Futureproof Offshore Wind Turbine Foundations – Reducing LCOE and Environmental Impacts Through Repowering Focused Selection
Futureproof Offshore Wind Turbine Foundations – Reducing LCOE and Environmental Impacts through Repowering Focused Selection Mary Boylan Hassan Thesis of 60 ECTS credits Master of Science (MSc) in Sustainable Energy Engineering August 2020 ii Futureproof Offshore Wind Turbine Foundations – Reducing LCOE and Environmental Impacts through Repowering Focused Selection Thesis of 60 ECTS credits submitted to the School of Science and Engineering at Reykjavík University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Sustainable Energy Engineering August 2020 Supervisors: Ármann Gylfason, Supervisor Professor, Reykjavík University, Iceland Elsa João, Supervisor Senior Lecturer, University of Strathclyde, Scotland, UK Advisers Edward Hart, Advisor Post Doctoral Research Associate, University of Strathclyde, Scotland, UK Rebecca Hall, Advisor PhD Candidate, University of Strathclyde, Scotland, UK Examiner: Eyjólfur Ingi Ásgeirsson, Examiner Professor, Reykjavík University, Iceland iv Copyright Mary Boylan Hassan August 2020 vi viii Futureproof Offshore Wind Turbine Foundations – Reducing LCOE and Environmental Impacts through Repowering Focused Selection Mary Boylan Hassan August 2020 Abstract Offshore wind energy production has grown exponentially since its beginning in the early 1990s. Since earlier installations had low power output (less than 1 MW) and low capacity factors (less than 30%), the farms offshore were significantly less impactful than their onshore counterparts. In the UK, however, increased government funding and support has paved the way for greater presence of offshore wind farms in their electric grid infrastructure. Now that the UK has become the leader in offshore wind energy, many sites in English and Scottish waters are being examined for their potential large-scale installations (up to 1000 MW of installed power) while current installations are considerably greater than even a decade prior.
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