Abstract
This research aims to analyze the levelized level energy cost of energy (LCOE) of wind farms with tethered airfoils. For this, it was considering the technical characteristics of the system, the location of operation, the necessary investments and the characteristics of the Brazilian market, to analyze the levelized cost of energy of three wind farm scenarios: Classic wind farm, Wind farm with tethered airfoils operating in Pumping Kite mode and a hybrid park with the two park configurations studied. The research makes use of the LCOE method. The results indicate that the technology with wired airfoils requires less investment and that wind farms with this technology can generate more energy than a classic wind farm of the same nominal power, since the wired airfoils can exploit high altitude winds, where they are more frequent and strong. The results also indicate that wind farms with wired airfoils are not only economically viable, but produce energy at a level cost, well below the values currently practiced for the sale of energy in the domestic market.
Highlights
Airborne Wind Energy (AWE) or High-Altitude Wind Energy (HAWE) is a renewable energy technology that uses flying devices that take advantage of the kinetic energy of the wind and are capable of being held in the air by means of aerodynamic forces or aerostatic forces (Archer & Caldeira, 2009)
Equation (2) presents the formula for calculating the level energy cost of energy (LCOE): in which Cn is the total life cycle cost, Qn is the amount of energy generated in the year, the discount rate appears in equation (2) to compensate for the value of money in time, and N is the period of analysis
The LCOE corresponds to the mean energy price that final users of electricity should pay to the investor of the project
Summary
Airborne Wind Energy (AWE) or High-Altitude Wind Energy (HAWE) is a renewable energy technology that uses flying devices that take advantage of the kinetic energy of the wind and are capable of being held in the air by means of aerodynamic forces or aerostatic forces (Archer & Caldeira, 2009). The main advantages of this technology are the replacement of classic wind turbine towers by cables of variable length, and of the blades by aerofoil tethered like a balloon or wings similar to a paraglide, kite surf or plane (Diehl, 2013). This replacement allows the devices to operate at higher altitudes, where the winds are stronger and more stable, characterizing a higher energy potential. We continued our research in this area, expanding an earlier study, described in (De Lellis, Mendonça, Saraiva, Trofino, & Lezana, 2016)
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