Offshore Wind Energy Sector Research Articles

Future Sensemaking Beyond Own Business Self-Interests: Insights from Offshore Wind Energy Innovation Ecosystems

This research explores how participants in an innovation ecosystem, operating without a focal firm, can collaboratively envision and create societal value beyond their individual business goals. Using participatory action research, the investigation focuses on two cases within the offshore wind energy sector, involving four complementary enterprises and nine enterprises that are both complementary and competitive. The findings suggest that ecosystem participants can collectively pursue opportunities for sustainable value creation that surpass the interests and goals of individual firms. This shift towards a future-oriented, ecosystem-wide perspective was driven by the focus on ecosystem-level value propositions and the dynamic organizing of heterogeneous knowledge, individual behaviors, and organizational behaviors, enabling successful future-oriented sensemaking. The research process highlights practices that led to significant innovation outcomes, such as halving investments, reducing accidents and rework, accelerating operational flow, and fostering long-term investments, like a floating port for installation and maintenance improvements. This study enhances understanding of how future-oriented sensemaking in innovation ecosystems without a focal firm can drive innovation and societal value creation, offering insights for practitioners, academics, and policymakers on governance and collaborative efforts to enable value creation in innovation ecosystems.

Towards sustainable energy: integrating ERA5 data for offshore wind farm planning in India

India’s pursuit of offshore wind energy development, particularly along the Tamil Nadu coastline within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), faces significant spatial and economic challenges due to existing industrial activities and water depth limitations. Motivated by the need to optimize offshore wind resources and bridge the gap between onshore and offshore wind energy achievements, this study hypothesizes that ERA5 reanalysis wind data can be relied upon for assessing offshore wind resources and optimizing wind farm layouts, especially in the absence of measured data. The research employs methods such as comparing ERA5 data with empirical wind measurements, generating wind rose diagrams for layout optimization, and conducting a comprehensive financial analysis to estimate the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCoE). The results confirm the efficacy of ERA5 data, identifying an optimal wind farm layout with a capacity density of 5.17 MW per square kilometer, turbine spacing of 7.22 meters, and an LCoE of Rs. 8.84 per kWh. The study concludes that significant financial support and strategic policy interventions are essential for minimizing wake losses, optimizing capacity density, and fostering the long-term growth of India’s offshore wind energy sector, providing critical insights for policymakers, developers, and investors. The novelty of this research lies in its detailed exploration of spatial optimization and cost-effective strategies to enhance the techno-economic viability of offshore wind projects in India.

Technical and economic challenges for floating offshore wind deployment in Italy and in the Mediterranean Sea

AbstractOffshore wind is nowadays already well developed in the North European countries. Ninety‐nine percent of the offshore wind turbines are installed on fixed foundations in shallow waters. For areas with water depth greater than 50–60 m, the floating wind is the cheapest and mostly used technology. This technology is going to reach the commercial phase in a few years, thus disclosing the potential of all marine areas with deep waters close to the coast, including the Mediterranean basin. One of the main challenges for floating offshore wind deployment in this area is the achievement of its economic feasibility. The offshore wind resource in the Mediterranean is generally lower than the one in the North Sea and in Oceans and the cost of offshore wind farms, especially with floating technology, is higher than the present offshore wind farm installations also because this industrial sector has not yet started in this area. However, in the Mediterranean area, the potential of offshore wind to contribute to the decarbonization pathway and reduce the dependence on imported fuel supply is substantial. Numerous studies, examined in this article, have already performed a technical‐economic assessment of offshore wind farms in different countries and geographical areas within the basin. A significant number of offshore wind projects are already in different stages of development, confirming the industrial interest and readiness of the Mediterranean offshore wind energy sector. The article provides a comprehensive review of various factors influencing the future deployment of offshore wind in the Mediterranean. It covers a range of topics including technology advancements, resource assessment, wind energy potential, ongoing projects, costs, and economic aspects. Additionally, it discusses environmental sustainability, regulatory frameworks, supply chain logistics, and system integration. The updated review presented in this article could assist decision‐makers and stakeholders in gaining a better understanding of the characteristics of this promising sector and accelerating its development.This article is categorized under: Sustainable Energy > Wind Energy

Fuzzy-Set QCA on Performance and Sustainability Determinants of Ports Supporting Floating Offshore Wind Farms

The present study explores the relationship between the characteristics, performance, and sustainability of ports that will, in the future, support the logistical chains of new floating offshore wind farms, considering the crucial advancement and expansion of the offshore wind energy sector for the transition to a low-carbon economy. Through a detailed analysis, which includes international case studies in America and Europe utilizing expert interviews and quantitative methods through surveys, the importance of the location, new types of infrastructure and superstructure, and new planning and governance models for the performance and sustainability of ports that will be involved in this new energy industry is highlighted. Also, the context in which ports associated with floating wind turbines are located influences the performance and sustainability. This research employs Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), based on a survey of 22 European sector company experts, to emphasize the critical port characteristics for the performance and sustainability. This study reveals the significant contribution of supporting ports for the future floating offshore wind sector for the gross added value and the expansion of regional employment, and the need for new planning, construction, operation, and management models for ports instead of the traditional models applied to simple cargo loading and unloading ports, offering valuable new insights for port managers, policymakers, and academics. However, a future research trajectory with a more geographically diverse sample is suggested to enhance the applicability and generalizability of the results.

Investigation of the effects of offshore wind turbines on marine ecology from a chemical perspective

The offshore wind energy sector is a rapidly growing renewable energy industry worldwide. The concern that this rapid growth may have effects on the marine environment has drawn the attention of scientists in various fields. In this context, this article provides an overview of chemical emissions from sources such as corrosion protection systems and microplastics, which are pollutants for marine ecology. It discusses their significance and potential impacts on the marine environment, as well as proposing strategies to reduce these emissions.
 Corrosion is a common issue for offshore structures, requiring corrosion protection systems to maintain structural integrity. These systems often have galvanic anodes that can release significant amounts of metals directly into seawater. Additionally, microplastics and their compound pollutants are toxic to some marine organisms, affecting their growth, feeding, reproduction, and other physiological activities. Moreover, microplastics can pose potential risks to humans through the consumption of marine and terrestrial food products and drinking water.
 While current assumptions suggest a low environmental impact for these two main pollutants, there is insufficient monitoring data to assess the environmental impact of this new source from a chemical perspective. This study represents the first chemical evaluation of the effects of pollutants such as corrosion protection systems and microplastics used in offshore wind turbines on marine ecology. The results obtained can serve as a reference for many future studies.

The Evolution and Practice of Offshore Wind Energy in China

Offshore wind power stands as a notable exemplar of environmentally friendly energy sources. Among global players, China emerges as a trailblazer in the realm of offshore wind energy, as evidenced by its remarkable aggregate capacity. This exposition delves into China's ongoing strides in offshore wind energy by dissecting its facets in terms of policy orientation, natural endowments, demographic dynamics, technological prowess, substantial investments, and pivotal subsidies. The elucidation of natural resources, population dynamics, fiscal commitments, and supportive subsidies serves to unveil the rationale underpinning China's resolute commitment to fostering this burgeoning industry. Through an insightful exploration of policy frameworks and technological innovations, this article cogently illustrates the trajectory of China's progress, delineating the present state of the offshore wind energy sector within its boundaries. Leveraging a tapestry of official governmental policies and pertinent scholarly literature, the narrative succinctly encapsulates the present developmental panorama and pragmatic implementation of offshore wind energy initiatives in China. It unequivocally asserts that China's endeavors in offshore wind energy are characterized by meticulous planning and a strong governmental mandate, thus positioning the industry for a promising trajectory of growth and advancement in the foreseeable future.

Offshore wind energy policy paths: A comparative analysis of Denmark and Germany

Offshore wind energy is getting more attention from governments. Germany had the third rank among all countries in total offshore wind energy capacity at the end of 2022. Denmark, having less land area but a good location for offshore wind power, had the fourth rank. Both countries' offshore wind energy sectors have significant roles globally. This paper aims to explore the development paths of offshore wind energy policy in Denmark and Germany and understand the developmental differences. The trends in offshore wind energy production and the evolving policies of the governments are analysed, by comparing the two countries. Most of the policies in Denmark and Germany resulted positively, and their policy paths were sim- ilar with some nuance. The research concludes that a governmental policy strategy and a flex- ible support mechanism are the keys to developing an innovative offshore wind energy sector.

Hardening plasticity formulation for drained behavior of circular foot-ings

Upon moving the offshore wind energy sector to deeper waters, there is an increased demand towards developing more complex foundation solutions, in particular suction caisson foundations as single or jacket supported on multiple foundations. Broadly, foundations for offshore wind turbines need to be able to withstand a variety of load combinations throughlout their lifetime.
 This contribution is devoted to a comprehensive review of the performance of circular surface and shallow foundations under combined loading (VHM), and how this can principlally be understood in a theoretical framework in the context of plasticity theory [1-2]. Initially, the associated and non-associated plasticity in offshore foundation design is discussed. The plastic potential function for a non-associated plasticity framework, with the aid of two association factors and is as follows:
 where indicates the apex of the potential surface; is eccentricity parameter; and represent the uppermost size of the yield surface along the vertical loading coordinate; and are curvature factors.
 Assuming , two potential surfaces with and > ( ) have similar shapes despite having different intersection points with the V axis, a clear indication that associated flow is the governing plastic flow mechanism in radial plane (Fig.1).
 Contrarily, the plastic potential surface for surface foundations was plotted for two different association factor values ( i. e., while all else remains unchanged. The two cases shown in Fig. 2 are for two different values of . Thus, according to Eq. (1) and Fig. 2, the normality condition is no longer relevant in the radial plane. Further, The hardening law for circular surface footings can be described by the following expression [3], in which the post-peak softening behavior is modeled by a factor :
 where indicates the apex of the potential surface; is eccentricity parameter; and represent the uppermost size of the yield surface along the vertical loading coordinate; and are curvature factors.
 Assuming , two potential surfaces with and > ( ) have similar shapes despite having different intersection points with the V axis, a clear indication that associated flow is the governing plastic flow mechanism in radial plane (Fig.1).
 Contrarily, the plastic potential surface for surface foundations was plotted for two different association factor values ( i. e., while all else remains unchanged. The two cases shown in Fig. 2 are for two different values of . Thus, according to Eq. (1) and Fig. 2, the normality condition is no longer relevant in the radial plane. Further, The hardening law for circular surface footings can be described by the following expression [3], in which the post-peak softening behavior is modeled by a factor :
 The above hardening law describes the relationship between vertical loading and plastic settlement, where = at the infinity amount of plastic settlement ( is the post-peak vertical loading and is peak bearing capacity), The denotes initial plastic stiffness, and are plastic settlement and plastic settlement at maximum load, respectively (Fig. 3).
 Although the studies on surface footings yielded values lower than unity (a clear indication of the prevailing post-peak softening behavior), this key trend is not confirmed in shallow foundations according to FE push-over analyses and scaled model tests [4].
 In current study, multiple FE push-over analyses were carried out to establish a new hardening law for a multi-pod system. The validation procedure was detailed in [5-6]. As a consequence, = 1.99 and 1.85 and = 12700 and 11400 corresponding to the embedment ratios 0.5 and 1 were determined, respectively. Furthermore, the initial plastic stiffness was found significantly higher than that of surface footings [7]. Finally, the hardening law and plastic potential surface turned out to be inherently complex, because both involve several parameters that need to be calibrated (i.e., depending strongly on foundation type and soil strength). Thus, special care should be taken when assessing the skirted foundation responses on different loading planes.

A theoretical and practical framework based on plasticity theory for the drained behavior of single and multiple shallow footings

AbstractWith the shift of the offshore wind energy sector to deeper waters, demand for the development of more complex foundation solutions, particularly suction bucket – supported tripod/tetrapod and jacket foundations, has increased. This paper is divided into two main sections. The first part comprises a comprehensive review of the performance of circular surface and shallow foundations under combined loading (VHM), and how it can principally be understood in a theoretical framework of plasticity theory. Examination of the considered data suggested that the general assumption of over‐estimated non‐association degree with constant failure surface parameters and increasing vertical load may require further investigation. This may be attributed to the complex interplay of multiple properties such as stress level, soil strength profile and foundation geometry. The existing data in the literature were also used to provide practical guidance for a successful implementation of the elasto‐plastic constitutive relationships in offshore foundation design. In second part of the paper, the suitability of the non‐associated plasticity formulation for a baseline multi‐pod system in H‐M load space was investigated using three‐dimensional (3D) finite element (FE) analyses and not verified. Furthermore, the failure envelopes and hardening law for caissons with different embedment ratios differed from those recommended in the literature were established. Parametric studies of multi‐caisson foundations revealed that the failure mechanism of multi‐bucket foundations under horizontal loading depended greatly on the bucket spacing. The horizontal bearing capacities increased with the bucket spacing until they reached a threshold. Meanwhile, analyses of the multi‐bucket foundation under moment loading confirmed the occurrence of a push‐pull failure mechanism.

Integration criteria of offshore wind farms in the landscape: Viewpoints of local inhabitants

The offshore wind energy sector will flourish in the next few decades to meet global climate change commitments and energy demand. All EU Member States are required to develop marine spatial planning in order to facilitate the transition to a green economy. Even though these proposed offshore wind farms are essential for the energy transition, the visual impact of their implementation could serve as an obstacle to their deployment.A methodological framework is proposed to assess the visual impact of offshore wind farms. The current paper quantifies their visual impact, compares the results with nearby citizens' opinions, and proposes a realistic approach. Personal interviews took place in August to meet as many people as possible since these villages are primarily touristic.In both examined scenarios, according to the results of the methodology (Greek legislation) the first limitation is met, so there is no or minimal visual impact. Furthermore, the respondents replied that they would not experience any optical disturbance from an offshore wind farm in their region. Additionally, according to the respondents, 64% are positive or very positive about renewable energy exploitation, and only 11% are against it regardless of their age.

Energy losses during driving due to tapered section of monopile

Efficient pile driving and accurate pile driving predictions are essential for the continued use of monopiles as an optimised foundation for the offshore wind energy sector, especially as the offshore wind industry continuously pushes limits of wind turbine and foundation size. For monopile foundation a crucial part of the structure from an installation perspective is the transition tapered section of the monopile between the top and bottom parts of the monopile and its interaction with the water column during pile driving. To evaluate the impact of this interaction on the driving energy, two monopile foundations installed at an offshore wind farm (OWF) site in the North Sea were instrumented and their installation was monitored in 2019. For the monitoring, optical fibre strain gauges and resistive accelerometers were placed at different levels above, below, and on to the tapered section of the monopiles. As an innovative part, all sensors were glued on the monopile shaft surface instead of the traditional welded/screwed approach. The driving energy loss between different sensor levels was calculated post installation. The measurement data were used to benchmark a series of finite element analyses (FEA) that were performed to identify and quantify the different factors affecting the energy loss.The study evaluates the effect of various parameters, such as wave reflections due impedance changes caused by diameter increase and wall thickness variation, bending of tapered section, and vertical acceleration of water due to interaction with the tapered section of the monopile. Measurements and the finite element analysis both reveal that a large part of the driving energy applied by the hammer is dissipated due to the above-mentioned factors with the water-pile interaction playing the most important role, resulting in a significant impact on the monopile installation.

Study on wind farms in the North Sea area

Green energy is the key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and thus helping to combat climate change. Modern wind turbines have been implemented all over the world and represent a significant alternative for the elimination of fossil fuels or other methods of obtaining energy. Europe plays an important role in the offshore wind energy sector, with wind farms installed in 11 countries, of which the mainstay is the North Sea. The North Sea is home to the world’s largest offshore wind farm, completed in 2020, with a capacity of 1218 MW of 174 turbines. This study presents an overview of the wind farms deployed in the North Sea, the types of turbines, and the types of structures for turbines. Based on the characteristics of the North Sea, the classification society’s rules for the environmental conditions that these structures must comply with were also investigated.

DeepOWT: a global offshore wind turbine data set derived with deep learning from Sentinel-1 data

Abstract. Offshore wind energy is at the advent of a massive global expansion. To investigate the development of the offshore wind energy sector, optimal offshore wind farm locations, or the impact of offshore wind farm projects, a freely accessible spatiotemporal data set of offshore wind energy infrastructure is necessary. With free and direct access to such data, it is more likely that all stakeholders who operate in marine and coastal environments will become involved in the upcoming massive expansion of offshore wind farms. To that end, we introduce the DeepOWT (Deep-learning-derived Offshore Wind Turbines) data set (available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5933967, Hoeser and Kuenzer, 2022b), which provides 9941 offshore wind energy infrastructure locations along with their deployment stages on a global scale. DeepOWT is based on freely accessible Earth observation data from the Sentinel-1 radar mission. The offshore wind energy infrastructure locations were derived by applying deep-learning-based object detection with two cascading convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to search the entire Sentinel-1 archive on a global scale. The two successive CNNs have previously been optimised solely on synthetic training examples to detect the offshore wind energy infrastructures in real-world imagery. With subsequent temporal analysis of the radar signal at the detected locations, the DeepOWT data set reports the deployment stages of each infrastructure with a quarterly frequency from July 2016 until June 2021. The spatiotemporal information is compiled in a ready-to-use geographic information system (GIS) format to make the usability of the data set as accessible as possible.

China: Jiangsu Black Cat – carbon nanotubes

With the promotion of renewable energy production and a planned phaseout of fossil fuels until 2040, the offshore wind energy sector has expanded and will continue to increase its capacity in the upcoming decades. This study presents a novel approach to deriving the installed capacity of offshore wind turbines on a global scale from spaceborne radar imagery provided by the Sentinel-1 mission. This new method contributes significantly to the information depth of freely available data sets, which provide the spatiotemporal patterns of offshore wind turbines. Furthermore, by combining freely available Earth observation and GIS data, commonly reported attributes of the offshore wind energy sector are compiled to provide a first impression of how this data can be used. All attributes are investigated to provide an in-depth overview of the developments in the offshore wind energy sector over the last five years. Between July 2016 and June 2021, the installed capacity worldwide grew from 13.5 GW to 40.6 GW. This corresponds to an increase of 27.1 GW or 200%. In total 8885 OWTs were installed until June 2021 with an additional 852 under construction. The European Union (15.2 GW), China (14.1 GW) and the United Kingdom (10.7 GW) are the three major contributors to the offshore wind energy sector. China has seen the largest growth in the last five years of 13 GW, followed by the EU with 8 GW and the UK with 5.8 GW. The provided analysis at the end of this study describes the offshore wind energy sector in a transition phase between decades of maturity and massive growth at a time when carbon-neutral energy production is massively supported. Overall the proposed approaches for independent offshore wind turbine capacity estimation and spatiotemporal investigation of the offshore wind energy sector can be used by all stakeholders involved in the upcoming challenge of integrated planning and implementation of offshore wind energy projects.

Global dynamics of the offshore wind energy sector monitored with Sentinel-1: Turbine count, installed capacity and site specifications

With the promotion of renewable energy production and a planned phaseout of fossil fuels until 2040, the offshore wind energy sector has expanded and will continue to increase its capacity in the upcoming decades. This study presents a novel approach to deriving the installed capacity of offshore wind turbines on a global scale from spaceborne radar imagery provided by the Sentinel-1 mission. This new method contributes significantly to the information depth of freely available data sets, which provide the spatiotemporal patterns of offshore wind turbines. Furthermore, by combining freely available Earth observation and GIS data, commonly reported attributes of the offshore wind energy sector are compiled to provide a first impression of how this data can be used. All attributes are investigated to provide an in-depth overview of the developments in the offshore wind energy sector over the last five years. Between July 2016 and June 2021, the installed capacity worldwide grew from 13.5 GW to 40.6 GW. This corresponds to an increase of 27.1 GW or 200%. In total 8885 OWTs were installed until June 2021 with an additional 852 under construction. The European Union (15.2 GW), China (14.1 GW) and the United Kingdom (10.7 GW) are the three major contributors to the offshore wind energy sector. China has seen the largest growth in the last five years of 13 GW, followed by the EU with 8 GW and the UK with 5.8 GW. The provided analysis at the end of this study describes the offshore wind energy sector in a transition phase between decades of maturity and massive growth at a time when carbon-neutral energy production is massively supported. Overall the proposed approaches for independent offshore wind turbine capacity estimation and spatiotemporal investigation of the offshore wind energy sector can be used by all stakeholders involved in the upcoming challenge of integrated planning and implementation of offshore wind energy projects. • Novel approach for height calculation and capacity estimation of offshore wind turbines. • Global scale offshore wind energy installed capacity report based on EO data. • Spatiotemporal analysis of site specifications of offshore wind turbines. • Regional comparison of the development of the offshore wind energy sector.

Climate Change Impact on the Offshore Wind Energy Over the North Sea and the Irish Sea

The impact of climate change on the environment and human activities is one of the biggest concerns for the international community. Wind energy represents one of the most reliable and promising technology to achieve the target reduction of emissions. Though more intense and uniform resources characterize offshore areas, climate change may alter the environmental conditions and thus Levelized Cost of Energy evaluation. In this study, we analyze the impact of climate change on the offshore wind energy sector over the North Sea and the Irish Sea, where the majority of the European investments are located. To this aim, seven regional climate model simulations from the EURO-Cordex project are first evaluated. The ERA5 reanalysis product is considered the historical reference information after its validation against in-situ records and it is used to analyze the climate simulations by assessing their performance to reproduce weather types. Several statistics are calculated to assess the skill of each model in reproducing past climatology for the reference period (1985-2004). Since no significant differences between simulations are highlighted, an ensemble of all the seven simulations is used to characterize future changes in the offshore climate. Weather types under the representative concentration path scenario RCP8.5 for the future period 2081-2100 are then analyzed to describe the changes in climatological mean and extreme events. Regional climate model simulations are bias-corrected by applying the empirical quantile mapping technique. Then, future changes in six wind energy climate indicators (i.e. mean and extreme wind speed, wind power density, operation hours, gross energy yield, and capacity factor) are estimated for seven operating offshore wind farms. Results indicate a slight decrease in wind energy production, particularly in the northwest of the domain of study, testified by a reduction of all the climate indicators. However, large uncertainties in the projected changes are found at the wind farms located close to the south coast of the North Sea. Extreme wind conditions show a modest rise in the southeastern part of the region, related to an increase of the weather types dominated by cyclonic systems off Scotland shores.

An optimal strategy for initiating and efficiently developing the floating offshore wind energy sector in Greece

An optimal strategy for initiating and efficiently developing the floating offshore wind energy sector in Greece

Global Offshore Wind Scenario: A Review

Every single ecosystem and environment is on the brink of destruction due to the adverse effects of global warming and pollution caused by the millions of machines and power plants operating all around the world, which primarily use fossil fuels, generating mammoth amounts of greenhouse gases. It is high time that we take action against this ruthless destruction by substituting conventional fossil fuels with green energy sources to generate power. This paper analyzes the current and past trends and developments in the offshore wind energy sector, all across the major regions of the globe, along with transmission, grid and novel power electronic converters, and wind turbine technology. Economics and life cycle assessments have been included to give an overall idea of the economic and financial side of the offshore wind farm sector.

Anthropogenic Mixing in Seasonally Stratified Shelf Seas by Offshore Wind Farm Infrastructure

The offshore wind energy sector has rapidly expanded over the past two decades, providing a renewable energy solution for coastal nations. Sector development has been led in Europe, but is growing globally. Most developments to date have been in well-mixed, i.e., unstratified, shallow-waters near to shore. Sector growth is, for the first time, pushing developments to deep water, into a brand new environment: seasonally stratified shelf seas. Seasonally stratified shelf seas, where water density varies with depth, have a disproportionately key role in primary production, marine ecosystem and biogeochemical cycling. Infrastructure will directly mix stratified shelf seas. The magnitude of this mixing, additional to natural background processes, has yet to be fully quantified. If large enough it may erode shelf sea stratification. Therefore, offshore wind growth may destabilize and fundamentally change shelf sea systems. However, enhanced mixing may also positively impact some marine ecosystems. This paper sets the scene for sector development into this new environment, reviews the potential physical and environmental benefits and impacts of large scale industrialization of seasonally stratified shelf seas and identifies areas where research is required to best utilize, manage, and mitigate environmental change.

Winds of Change: Learnings for the Indian Offshore Wind Energy Sector

In this paper, we consider what India must do to meet its 30 GW offshore wind target. We attempt to answer this question by examining the existing situation in India regarding offshore-wind-related issues, analyzed under categories relevant to India (policy, finance, infrastructure, regulations, and environmental impacts)—and by drawing lessons from successful countries.