Wake effect impact on the levelized cost of energy in large floating offshore wind farms: A case of study in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula

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With the growing world energy needs, offshore wind farms tend to increase in terms of installed capacity, rated power, and the number of wind turbines. This trajectory leads to higher electricity production losses due to the wake effect between the wind turbines, resulting in an elevated Levelized Cost of Energy. Therefore, it is crucial to estimate this cost for various wind farm designs, involving the application of different distances between the wind turbines, aiming to identify the most cost-effective solutions. In this study these estimates were carried out within a legally designated 1800 km2 area earmarked for offshore wind energy exploitation by the Spanish government, situated at the northwest corner of the Iberian Peninsula, considering 15 MW wind turbines. This region is one of the most promising areas of the Iberian Peninsula and Europe since its wind resource potential for the upcoming years has been classified as outstanding. The wind data employed in this analysis emanates from a dynamical downscaling process performed using the Weather Research and Forecasting model, derived from a multi-model ensemble of the 6th phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. The data encompasses the timeframe spanning 2025 to 2049, under the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways 2–4.5, adjusted to coincide with the projected operational lifetime of wind farms. The results show that, without any kind of restrictions in terms of installed power and number of wind turbines, the most economically advantageous Levelized Cost of Energy is achieved at intermediate distances between the wind turbines. Conversely, when specifying a predetermined number of wind turbines, optimal results are attained with the application of the highest distance between turbines.