Optimization of Floating Offshore Wind Energy Systems Using an Extended Pattern Search Method

Author(s):  
Caitlin Forinash ◽  
Bryony DuPont

An Extended Pattern Search (EPS) approach is developed for offshore floating wind farm layout optimization while considering challenges such as high cost and harsh ocean environments. This multi-level optimization method minimizes the costs of installation and operations and maintenance, and maximizes power development in a unidirectional wind case by selecting the size and position of turbines. The EPS combines a deterministic pattern search algorithm with three stochastic extensions to avoid local optima. The EPS has been successfully applied to onshore wind farm optimization and enables the inclusion of advanced modeling as new technologies for floating offshore wind farms emerge. Three advanced models are incorporated into this work: (1) a cost model developed specifically for this work, (2) a power development model that selects hub height and rotor radius to optimize power production, and (3) a wake propagation and interaction model that determines aerodynamic effects. Preliminary results indicate the differences between proposed optimal offshore wind farm layouts and those developed by similar methods for onshore wind farms. The objective of this work is to maximize profit; given similar parameters, offshore wind farms are suggested to have approximately 24% more turbines than onshore farms of the same area. EPS layouts are also compared to those of an Adapted GA; 100% efficiency is found for layouts containing twice as many turbines as the layout presented by the Adapted GA. Best practices are derived that can be employed by offshore wind farm developers to improve the layout of platforms, and may contribute to reducing barriers to implementation, enabling developers and policy makers to have a clearer understanding of the resulting cost and power production of computationally optimized farms; however, the unidirectional wind case used in this work limits the representation of optimized layouts at real wind sites. Since there are currently no multi-turbine floating offshore wind farm projects operational in the United States, it is anticipated that this work will be used by developers when planning array layouts for future offshore floating wind farms.

Author(s):  
Caitlin Forinash ◽  
Bryony DuPont

An Extended Pattern Search (EPS) method is developed to optimize the layout and turbine geometry for offshore floating wind power systems. The EPS combines a deterministic pattern search with stochastic extensions. Three advanced models are incorporated: (1) a cost model considering investment and lifetime costs of a floating offshore wind farm comprised of WindFloat platforms; (2) a wake propagation and interaction model able to determine the reduced wind speeds downstream of rotating blades; and (3) a power model to determine power produced at each rotor, and includes a semi-continuous, discrete turbine geometry selection to optimize the rotor radius and hub height of individual turbines. The objective function maximizes profit by minimizing cost, minimizing wake interactions, and maximizing power production. A multidirectional, multiple wind speed case is modeled which is representative of real wind site conditions. Layouts are optimized within a square solution space for optimal positioning and turbine geometry for farms containing a varying number of turbines. Resulting layouts are presented; optimized layouts are biased towards dominant wind directions. Preliminary results will inform developers of best practices to include in the design and installation of offshore floating wind farms, and of the resulting cost and power production of wind farms that are computationally optimized for realistic wind conditions.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morteza Bahadori ◽  
Hassan Ghassemi

Abstract In recent years, as more offshore wind farms have been constructed, the possibility of integrating various offshore renewable technologies is increased. Using offshore wind and solar power resources as a hybrid system provides several advantages including optimized marine space utilization, reduced maintenance and operation costs, and relieving wind variability on output power. In this research, both offshore wind and solar resources are analyzed based on accurate data through a case study in Shark Bay (Australia), where bathymetric information confirms using offshore bottom-fixed wind turbine regarding the depth of water. Also, the power production of the hybrid system of co-located bottom-fixed wind turbine and floating photovoltaic are investigated with the technical characteristics of commercial mono-pile wind turbine and photovoltaic panels. Despite the offshore wind, the solar energy output has negligible variation across the case study area, therefore using the solar platform in deep water is not an efficient option. It is demonstrated that the floating solar has a power production rate nearly six times more than a typical offshore wind farm with the same occupied area. Also, output energy and surface power density of the hybrid offshore windsolar system are improved significantly compared to a standalone offshore wind farm. The benefits of offshore wind and solar synergies augment the efficiency of current offshore wind farms throughout the world.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Duc ◽  
Olivier Coupiac ◽  
Nicolas Girard ◽  
Gregor Giebel ◽  
Tuhfe Göçmen

Abstract. In this paper, a new calculation procedure to improve the accuracy of the Jensen wake model for operating wind farms is proposed. In this procedure the wake decay constant is updated locally at each wind turbine based on the turbulence intensity measurement provided by the nacelle anemometer. This procedure was tested against experimental data at onshore wind farm La Sole du Moulin Vieux (SMV) in France and the offshore wind farm Horns Rev-I in Denmark. Results indicate that the wake deficit at each wind turbine is described more accurately than when using the original model, reducing the error from 15–20 % to approximately 5 %. Furthermore, this new model properly calibrated for the SMV wind farm is then used for coordinated control purposes. Assuming an axial induction control strategy, and following a model predictive approach, new power settings leading to an increased overall power production of the farm are derived. Power gains found are in the order of 2.5 % for a two wind turbine case with close spacing and 1 to 1.5 % for a row of five wind turbines with a larger spacing. Finally, the uncertainty of the updated Jensen model is quantified considering the model inputs. When checked against the predicted power gain, the uncertainty of the model estimations is seen to be excessive, reaching approximately 4 %, which indicates the difficulty of field observations for such a gain. Nevertheless, the optimized settings are to be implemented during a field test campaign at SMV wind farm in scope of the national project SMARTEOLE.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 287-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Duc ◽  
Olivier Coupiac ◽  
Nicolas Girard ◽  
Gregor Giebel ◽  
Tuhfe Göçmen

Abstract. In this paper, a new calculation procedure to improve the accuracy of the Jensen wake model for operating wind farms is proposed. In this procedure, the wake decay constant is updated locally at each wind turbine based on the turbulence intensity measurement provided by the nacelle anemometer. This procedure was tested against experimental data at the Sole du Moulin Vieux (SMV) onshore wind farm in France and the Horns Rev-I offshore wind farm in Denmark. Results indicate that the wake deficit at each wind turbine is described more accurately than when using the original model, reducing the error from 15 % to 20 % to approximately 5 %. Furthermore, this new model properly calibrated for the SMV wind farm is then used for coordinated control purposes. Assuming an axial induction control strategy, and following a model predictive approach, new power settings leading to an increased overall power production of the farm are derived. Power gains found are on the order of 2.5 % for a two-wind-turbine case with close spacing and 1 % to 1.5 % for a row of five wind turbines with a larger spacing. Finally, the uncertainty of the updated Jensen model is quantified considering the model inputs. When checked against the predicted power gain, the uncertainty of the model estimations is seen to be excessive, reaching approximately 4 %, which indicates the difficulty of field observations for such a gain. Nevertheless, the optimized settings are to be implemented during a field test campaign at SMV wind farm in the scope of the national project SMARTEOLE.


Author(s):  
John Glasson

The Offshore Wind sector is a major, dynamic, and rapidly evolving renewable energy industry. This is particularly so in Europe, and especially in the UK. Associated with the growth of the industry has been a growth of interest in community benefits as voluntary measures provided by a developer to the host community. However, in many cases, and for some of the large North Sea distant offshore wind farms, the benefits packages have been disparate and pro rata much smaller than for the well-established onshore wind farm industry. However, there are signs of change. This paper explores the issues of community benefits for the UK offshore sector and evolving practice, as reflected in a macro study of the adoption of community benefits approaches across the industry. This is followed by a more in-depth micro- approach, which explores approaches that have been adopted in three case studies of recent OWF projects — Aberdeen, Beatrice and the Hornsea Array. Whilst there is still much divergence in practice, there are also examples of some convergence, and the development of a more replicable practice. Particularly notable is the adoption of annual community benefits funds, as the key element of community benefits schemes/agreements between developers, local authorities and local communities.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miteshkumar Nandlal Popat

Recently, offshore wind farms have emerged as the most promising sector in the global renewable energy industry. The main reasons for the rapid development of offshore wind farms includes much better wind resources and smaller environmental impact (e.g., audible noise and visual effect). However, the current state of the offshore wind power presents economic challenges significantly greater than onshore. In this thesis, a novel interconnecting method for permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG)-based offshore wind farm is proposed, where cascaded pulse-width modulated (PWM) current-source converters (CSCs) are employed on both generator- and grid-side. With the converters in cascade to achieve high operating voltages, the proposed method eliminates the need for bulky and very costly offshore converter substation which is usually employed in voltage source converter (VSC) high voltage DC (HVDC)-based counterparts. Related research in terms of control schemes and grid integration are carried out to adapt the proposed cascaded CSC-based offshore wind farm configuration. The large distance between generator- and grid-side CSC in the proposed wind farm configuration addresses significant challenges for the system control. In order to overcome the problem, a novel decoupled control scheme is developed. The active and reactive power control on the grid-side converters are achieved without any exchange of information from the generator-side controller. Therefore, the long distance communication links between the generator- and grid-side converters are eliminated and both controllers are completely decoupled. At the same time, the maximum power tracking control is achieved for the generator-side converters that enable full utilization of the wind energy. Considering inconsistent wind speed at each turbine, a coordinated control scheme is proposed for the cascaded CSC-based offshore wind farm. In proposed control strategy, the wind farm supervisory control (WFSC) is developed to generate the optimized dc-link current control. This enables all the turbines to independently track their own MPPT even with inconsistent wind speed at each turbine. Grid integration issues, especially the fault ride-through (FRT) capability for the cascaded CSC-based offshore wind farm are addressed. Challenges in implementing existing FRT methods to the proposed offshore wind farm are identified. Based on this, a new FRT strategy using inherent short circuit operating capability of the CSC is developed. Moreover, the mitigation strategy is developed to ensure the continuous operation of the cascaded CSC-based offshore wind farm when one or more turbines fail to operate. Simulation and experimental verification for various objectives are provided throughout the thesis. The results validate the proposed solutions for the main challenges of the cascaded current source converter based offshore wind farm.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Peilin Lv ◽  
Rong Zhen ◽  
Zheping Shao

Offshore wind power is an effective way to solve the energy crisis problem and achieve sustainable economic development. Aiming at the problems that the navigational risk of ships in the waters of offshore wind farms is difficult to quantify due to complex factors, this paper proposes a method of navigational risk assessment in the waters of offshore wind farms based on a fuzzy inference system. Firstly, through the analysis of the factors affecting the navigation system of wind farm waters, it is found that the navigational risk is affected by natural factors and navigational environment factors. Then, the visibility, the number of traffic flows, the number of encounter areas, and the distance between the sailing route and the wind farm are extracted to evaluate the risk of natural factors and the risk of the sailing environment in the navigation system of the wind farm waters, respectively. Considering the mutual influence of the factors, the fuzzy inference rules of navigational risk influence are established according to the expert experience, and a method of navigational risk assessment based on the fuzzy inference system in offshore wind farm waters is developed. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, a comprehensive evaluation of the navigational risk of wind farm waters in Changle offshore sea of Fujian Province is carried out, and the evaluation results are consistent with the actual situation. The proposed method has important theoretical significance for the navigational safety supervision of offshore wind farm waters.


Author(s):  
Ekkehard Stade

Offshore wind farms present a lesser safety risk to operators and contractors than traditional oil and gas installations. In the post Macondo world this does not come as a surprise since the risks involved in construction, operation and maintenance of an offshore wind farm are by far lower. Even with higher probability of incidents and near misses (due to serial construction) the severity/ impact of those is considerably lower. On the other hand projects are complex, profit margins are what they are called: marginal. Hence there is no room for errors, perhaps in form of delays. If, for example, the installation completion of the turbines and the inner array cabling/ export cables are not perfectly in tune, the little commercial success that can be achieved is rapidly diminishing by costly compensation activities. The paper will try to present solutions to the most pressing challenges and elaborate on the effect those would have had, had they been implemented at the beginning of the projects. How can a sustainable new industry evolve by learning from established industries? Presently, there is a view that offshore wind is a short-lived business. Particularly representatives of the oil and gas industry raise such concern. Apart from the obvious bias of those voices, this controversy is also caused by the fact that offshore wind seems to have a tendency to try and re-invent the wheel rather than using established procedures. Even with a relatively stable commitment to the offshore wind development regardless of the respective government focus within European coastal states the industry suffers from financing issues, subsidies, over-regulation due to lack of expertise within authorities and other challenges. The avoidance of those is key to a successful development for this industry in other areas of the planet. In conjunction with a stable commitment this is essential in order to attract the long lead-time projects and to establish the complex supply chains to achieve above goals. The paper will look at the short but intensive history of the industry and establish mitigation to some of the involved risks of offshore wind farm EPCI.


2013 ◽  
Vol 155 (A3) ◽  

Europe is currently facing an energetic revolution. Several offshore wind farm projects are currently under construction or under planning in North and Baltic Sea. Typical foundation structures for offshore wind farms are steel open-ended monopiles with large diameters up to 6 m. Currently, the monopiles are installed by driving with large impact hammers. However, there are many situations where pile refusal is reached, due to hard soil layers or erratic blocks. Driving and drilling technique is therefore applied. This manuscript briefly describes the trench cutter technology normally used for foundation works on land. Three case histories onshore and one offshore project are discussed and the evolution of the trench cutter technology for supporting the installation of offshore monopile is described.


2014 ◽  
Vol 521 ◽  
pp. 703-706 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Feng Li ◽  
Su Hua Ma ◽  
Xiao Dong Shen

Storage of energy generated by offshore wind farms still addresses one of the vexing problems inherent in offshore renewable energy such as offshore wind or solar energy how to store excess energy. Researchers tried to apply concrete in the energy storage of offshore wind farm recently, including the OTEC artificial energy islands, the MITS Ocean Renewable Energy Storage (ORES) and Belgiums energy atoll, and the progresses were reviewed.


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