Keywords: cost of energy, deep water (sea), floating, hydrokinetic converter, maintainability, manufacturability, platform, survivability, wind turbine
The U.S. has an abundance of wind and wave offshore resources suitable for industrial-scale power generation, the best resources are in deep waters. Cost-of-Energy (COE) is defined as Production Facility’s Total Costs (C) divided by the Amount of Energy Produced (E), i.e. COE=C/E. It’s clear that improvement of COE requires reduction in C accompanied by increase in E. Existing offshore methods require extensive at-sea assembly: massive components and hoisting equipment are delivered and assembled piece by piece. The process is time consuming and very expensive. It contributes 25-40% to the cost of constructing a wind farm. Consequently, the COE produced in deep water it is projected to be prohibitive. The core priority of HighSeasWind has been to devise technologies and methods that reduce the COE generated in deep waters. HighSeasWind’s floating concept eliminates the need for at-sea construction by constructing on land in a shipyard, it streamlines turbine manufacturing, deployment, maintenance and weather-protection practices. This approach reduces C. We are also augmenting the wind turbine with a wave converter on the same platform, thus increasing E at minimal marginal expense. End result – 50% COE reduction in comparison to a typical wind energy plant.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: Technical Proceedings of the 2011 Clean Technology Conference and Trade Show
Published: June 13, 2011
Pages: 9 - 12
Industry sector: Energy & Sustainability
Topic: Sustainable Materials
ISBN: 978-1-4398-8189-7