Potential visibility, growth, and technological innovation in offshore wind turbines installed in Europe.

Abstract

One of the primary trends in the technological growth of offshore wind turbines is the movement toward larger-rotor machines with higher hub height. Recently, offshore wind turbine sizes, especially hub height, rotor diameter, and nameplate capacity, have increased dramatically and are expected to increase further. This growth in offshore wind turbine size enhances the turbine power coefficient for the same wind speeds significantly and also led to the reductions of levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) and total installed cost (TIC) of the turbines. This work examines the growth in the nameplate size and capacity of offshore wind turbines installed in Europe through the years as new installations and total installations. Effects and results of this growth in nameplate size and capacity on the LCOE, TIC, wind farm capacity, turbine-specific power capacity, turbine capacity factor (CF), sea surface area needed per GW, and the number of turbines per GW are examined and discussed in detail. As a result, this study aims to contribute to the literature and provide technical and innovative information to turbine manufacturers by presenting various aspects of offshore wind turbine technology development in Europe. The rapid technological developments in this sector show that the average CF has increased from 42 to 44% in the last decade, and the LCOE value has reduced from 0.156 USD/kWh to 0.096 USD/kWh.