Layout Optimization Process to Minimize the Cost of Energy of an Offshore Floating Hybrid Wind–Wave Farm

Jorge Izquierdo-Pérez,Antonio Pegalajar-Jurado,Bruno M Brentan,Nis Ebsen,Niels-Erik Clausen,Joaquín Izquierdo

doi:10.3390/pr8020139

Abstract

Offshore floating hybrid wind and wave energy is a young technology yet to be scaled up. A way to reduce the total costs of the energy production process in order to ensure competitiveness in the sustainable energy market is to maximize the farm’s efficiency. To do so, an energy generation and costs calculation model was developed with the objective of minimizing the technology’s Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) of the P80 hybrid wind-wave concept, designed by the company Floating Power Plant A/S. A Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm was then implemented on top of other technical and decision-making processes, taking as decision variables the layout, the offshore substation position, and the export cable choice. The process was applied off the west coast of Ireland in a site of interest for the company, and after a quantitative and qualitative optimization process, a minimized LCOE was obtained. It was then found that lower costs of ~73% can be reached in the short-term, and the room for improvement in the structure’s design and materials was highlighted, with an LCOE reduction potential of up to 32%. The model serves usefully as a preliminary analysis. However, the uncertainty estimate of 11% indicates that further site-specific studies and measurements are essential.

Highlights

One of the main conditioning issues of the planet’s climate since the industrial revolution is global warming, a consequence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
Middle-term national green new deals point at a transition to a full sustainable energy generation system as it is one of the main sources of these greenhouse gas emissions, representing around 25% of them according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) [2]
Focusing in the Sligo area, even though it is not one of the regions with the highest electricity demand in the country, the phasing out process of nonrenewable energy generation, the ongoing North-West project, and the mentioned optimal wind and waves conditions, make the bay an appropriate area for a P80 farm

Summary

Introduction

One of the main conditioning issues of the planet’s climate since the industrial revolution is global warming, a consequence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Middle-term national green new deals point at a transition to a full sustainable energy generation system as it is one of the main sources of these greenhouse gas emissions, representing around 25% of them according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) [2]. 6% of the world’s total electricity demand [3] with a total installed capacity of 597 GW by the end of 2018 [4], of which 23 GW corresponds to offshore farms worldwide [5] This newly exploitable offshore resource presents significant advantages with respect to that available onshore as it is both more constant and powerful: two very valuable characteristics for the energy market. These features combined with the lower spatial constraints in the sea have allowed the manufacturers to develop bigger turbines that currently reach capacities of up to 12 MW [6]

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