Abstract
Floating offshore wind energy is an emerging technology that provides access to new wind generation sites allowing for a diversified wind supply in future low carbon electricity systems. We use a high spatial and temporal resolution power system optimisation model to explore the conditions that lead to the deployment of floating offshore wind and the effect this has on the rest of the electricity system for Great Britain in 2050. We perform a sensitivity analysis on three dimensions: total share of renewables, floating offshore costs and the impact of waves on operation. We find that all three impact the deployment of floating offshore wind energy. A clear competition between floating offshore wind and conventional offshore wind is demonstrated, with less impact on other renewable sources. It is shown that floating wind is used to provide access to greater spatial diversification. Further, access to more distant regions also affects the optimal placement of conventional offshore wind, as spatial diversification is spread between floating and bottom-mounted sites.
Highlights
Greenhouse gas emissions, in particular carbon dioxide, are leading to global climate change [1], with the majority of global emissions coming from the energy sector [2]
We describe the modelling of offshore wind energy for this study, the highRES model and its linkage to the longterm energy system model, UK TIMES (UKTM), and elaborate on the model setup
From the geospatial analysis we find that the total available resource for offshore wind is 8450 TWh/yr, slightly lower than that found in Ref. [22], who found a total resource of 11,963 TWh/yr
Summary
Greenhouse gas emissions, in particular carbon dioxide, are leading to global climate change [1], with the majority of global emissions coming from the energy sector [2]. Due to reductions in costs [9] and the current prohibitive planning regime for onshore wind [10], offshore wind is likely to feature prominently in the UK's future low carbon electricity system. Floating turbines could lead to lower wind integration costs due to the benefits of spatial diversification but are currently more expensive than fixed structures, with the first commercial plants only coming into operation. Given their potentially important role it is key to understand which factors make this technology feature in the UK's future low carbon electricity system
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