Logistics strategy optimization for offshore windfarms with power purchase agreement

Abstract: Offshore wind is on the road to become commercially viable and competitive means for large-scale electricity production. This new industry is expected to occupy a major role in the energy transition. Operational costs and especially logistics cost for offshore maintenance are major factors and already today represent important levers to reduce the electricity production costs. In this study, a methodology to design and optimize an offshore windfarm’s logistics strategy is developed. This methodology is based on a software able to simulate a large number of logistics strategies and their interactions with weather conditions. The main outputs of the simulation are the monthly availability of the turbines and the logistics costs. The case study illustrates that the critical windfarm’s size for which a logistics strategy based on a vessel remaining at sea for weeks (offshore-based) becomes more beneficial than a strategy based on vessels going back to the port every day (onshore-based strategy), is close to 170 turbines for conditions typical to geographical areas similar to the North Sea. The simulation results, combined with scientific literature review, identify the distance to shore, number of turbines and transfer capacity of vessels as key parameter of logistics strategy design.