Modelling the Dynamic Response and Loads of Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Structures With Integrated Compressed Air Energy Storage

Abstract

Nowadays there is increased interest to incorporate energy storage technologies with wind turbines to mitigate grid-related challenges resulting from the intermittent supply from large-scale offshore wind farms. This paper presents a new concept to integrate compressed air energy storage (CAES) in floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) structures. The FOWT support structures will serve a dual purpose: to provide the necessary buoyancy to maintain the entire wind turbine afloat and stable under different met-ocean conditions and to act as a pressure vessel for compressed air energy storage on site. The proposed concept involves a hydro-pneumatic accumulator installed on the seabed to store pressurized deep sea water that is pneumatically connected to the floating support structure by means of an umbilical conduit. The present study investigates the technical feasibility of this concept when integrated in tension leg platforms (TLPs). The focus is on the impact of the additional floating platform weight resulting from the CAES on the dynamic response characteristics and loads when exposed to irregular waves. A simplified model for sizing the TLP hull for different energy storage capacities is initially presented. This is then used to evaluate the dynamic response of nine different TLP geometries when supporting the NREL1 5MW baseline wind turbine model. Numerical simulations are carried out using the marine engineering software tool ANSYS Aqwa©. The work provides an insight on how TLP structures supporting wind turbines may be optimised to facilitate the integration of the proposed CAES concept. It is shown that it is technically feasible to integrate CAES capacities on the order of Megawatt-Hours within TLP structures without compromising the stability of the floating system; although this would involve a substantial increase in the total structure weight.