Developing a Cost Model For Combined Offshore Farms : The Advantages of Co-Located Wind and Wave Energy

Abstract: Previous research has displayed that multi-source farms provide an opportunity to reduce the cost of energy and improve the energy output quality. This thesis assesses the cost competitiveness of co-located wind-wave farms, specifically floating offshore wind (FLOW) turbines and CorPower’s wave energy converters (WEC). This research was conducted in collaboration with CorPower, a Swedish WEC developer. A cost model is generated, which calculates the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) utilizing a life-cycle cost analysis. The model is developed by combining CorPower’s existing cost model with an agglomeration of FLOW cost models from previous studies. An in depth literature research informs about synergies, which are translated into shared costs within the model. The cost model is applied to a site on the Northern coast of Portugal; the location of a FLOW farm project under development. Including wave energy, improves the annual energy production of the farm by up to 10%. However, the effects on power smoothing are negligible, due to the high seasonal variability of the wave resource and the minimal complementarity of the two energy sources. The LCOE of a 1GW 50% wind - 50% wave farm is 63€/MWh. The high initial investment costs of the wind farm results in the standalone wind LCOE of 73€/MWh. The strong capacity factor of the WECs cause the LCOE to reduce to 55€/MWh, when evaluating a standalone wave farm. In all co-location configurations, savings for FLOW and wave farm developers are exhibited. The highest savings are identified for small wind/wave arrays co-located in large farms. This results in an LCOE reduction of up to 4.5% for both wind and wave farm developers. The largest relative savings are found in the DEVEX costs and the electrical transmission installation costs. The identified cost calculations and savings are inline with previous studies. The savings are in the lower range compared to other studies, due to the conservative estimations of the degree of shared costs. The cost model provides a tool, that can be continuously updated with the most recent findings of cost inputs and wind-wave synergies, i.e. shared cost opportunities. This thesis’ results reflect how co-locating wind and wave farms can improve the cost-competitiveness of both technologies. Nevertheless, more in depth research is required to comprehend the full potential of co-located wind-wave farms. There is a necessity of collaboration between wind and wave industry members to ensure that the synergies and shared cost-opportunities identified, are fully exploited.