A FEASIBILITY STUDY OF OFFSHORE WIND TURBINE FARMS IN IRANIAN SOUTHERN WATERS

The worldwide demand for renewable energy is increasing rapidly because of the climate problem, and also because oil resources are limited. Wind energy appears as a clean and goodsolution to cope with a great part of this energy demand. The offshore wind energy resources atdeep water areas around the globe, and in particular in harsh environments, are vast andtheoretically sufficient to supply several times the world’s entire electricity need [1]. With worldinterest increasing in the installation of offshore wind turbine (OWT), attention must be focused on the economical and structural analysis and design of these structures in Iran. The wind energy industry requires cost-effective design for offshore wind turbine structures in order to make theprojects economically viable. Offshore wind turbines have not received previous attentions in Iran. The current study reportsthe feasibility study results on offshore wind farms in Iranian southern waters. Different aspects (i.e. economical, structural, efficiency, productivity and etc) were taken into account. Structural models for three common types of OWTs (2MW, 3MW and 5 MW) were made in order toevaluate their dynamic behavior and enable the most economical and feasible choice. A data set containing 26 years of hincasted wind and wave field along with a sixty year extreme wave and wave analysis were used to the find most crucial load conditions. An economical assessment ispresented which takes into consideration the interest recovery factor, the lifetime of the offshore wind energy conversion system (OWECS), the investment rate and operation and maintenance costs.

Keywords:

Offshore Wind Turbines , Soil-Pile Interaction , Economical Analysis , SAP2000 , ECMWF