RESULTS
Impact
It is the intention of FLOATECH to increase the cost competitiveness of FOW by means of a set of technological improvements able to foster a reduction of LCOE (in the order of 15% in comparison to present average values) compared to fixed-bottom wind energy and to increase its market value. This is in line with the goals of the call Offshore wind basic science and balance of plant.
1
Lower the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE)
LCOE reduction of about 15%
(contributing in a relevant way to the LCOE drop of about 25%, from the initial value of about 130 €/MWh, expexted in the decade 2020-2030, based on expert estimates).
Timing to reach the impact =
5 years
A.1) Development of the design and simulation environment QBlade-Ocean
QbladeOcean allows to:
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accelerate multidisciplinary designs, which can optimize simultaneously the different subsystems of floating wind turbines (turbine, floater, mooring, control systems), facilitating their integration. Such integrated optimization of the subsystems allows CAPEX reduction through a tailored design of each component of the floating turbines.
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reduce uncertainites in evaluating loads and power performance. This allows to decrease safety factors avoiding the oversizing of the structures and, thus, limiting CAPEX.
Related Workpackages: WP1 and WP2
A.2) Development of active feed-forward, wave based control
This kind of control allows to improve load mitigation resulting in material saving and CAPEX reduction. Furthermore, it also can dampen oscillating motionsof the turbine, thus reducing fatigue loads and the need of maintenance interventions with related OPEX.
On the other hand, reduced wind turbine oscillations makes rotor efficiency less sensitive to the sea state, increasing the capacity factor with the related energy yield and, thus, lowering LCOE.
Related Workpackages: WP3 and WP5
A.3) Development of active wake-mixing control
This control strategy allows to reduce the wake effects on downwind turbines in wind farms, resulting in an increased energy yield with a related reduction in LCOE.
Related Workpackage: WP4
2
Increase the market value of wind power
Reduction of market value drop between 10% and 20% at a 30% wind energy share, under specific conditions, according to literature studies
(impact is dependent on actual power system, wind energy share in electricity market, and floating wind share)
Timing to reach the impact =
10 years (assuming 10 years to reach 30% of wind share)
A.1) Development of the design and simulation environment QBlade-Ocean
QbladeOcean accelerates the design of floating wind turbines, facilitating the “geographical smoothing” and allowing the exploitation of highly energetic sites in deeper seabed locations, which generally show more regular wind regimes. Both the effects limit the market value drop by flattening the aggregated wind energy output.
Related Workpackages: WP1 and WP2
A.2) Development of active feed-forward, wave based control
The reduction of wave induced oscillations over a wide range of operating conditions enhances power production performance in different sea states, thus increasing the capacity factor of the floating turbine and thereby reducing the market value drop. The enhanced load control technique, moreover, will lead to a reduced market value drop, since it allows the design of larger rotors with high capacity factor, while limiting the increase of loads and consequent costs.
Related Workpackages: WP3 and WP5