VYSOKÉ UČENÍ TECHNICKÉ V BRNĚ

BRNO UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

FAKULTA ELEKTROTECHNIKY A KOMUNIKAČNÍCH TECHNOLOGIÍ

ÚSTAV ELEKTROENERGETIKY
FACULTY OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND COMMUNICATION
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL POWER ENGINEERING

OFFSHORE WIND FARMS

ELECTRICAL POWER PRODUCTION AND

DISTRIBUTION

AUTHOR NAME SURNAME

1. STANKOVIČ ALEKSANDAR
2. ŠNAJDR LADISLAV

BRNO 2021
 Content 2

CONTENT

LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................................... 3

LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................................... 3
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 4
1 DESIGN OF OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES ...................................................................................... 5
1.1 WIND TURBINE DESIGN...................................................................................................................... 5
1.1.1 NACELLE................................................................................................................................... 5
1.1.2 BLADE DESIGN .......................................................................................................................... 5
1.1.3 TOWER DESIGN ......................................................................................................................... 6
1.2 MATERIAL DEMANDS......................................................................................................................... 6
1.2.1 TOWER ...................................................................................................................................... 6
1.2.2 BLADES ..................................................................................................................................... 6
1.2.3 EXTERNAL FORCES ................................................................................................................... 7
1.2.4 CORROSION............................................................................................................................... 7
1.3 OFFSHORE WIND TURBINE CONSTRUCTION ..................................................................................... 7
1.3.1 FIXED OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES ............................................................................................ 8
1.3.2 FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES ..................................................................................... 8
1.4 GRID CONNECTION ............................................................................................................................ 8
1.4.1 MVAC TRANSMISSION ............................................................................................................. 8
1.4.2 HVAC TRANSMISSION.............................................................................................................. 9
1.4.3 HVDC TRANSMISSION.............................................................................................................. 9
2 ADVANTAGES ......................................................................................................................................... 9
2.1 ECOLOGICAL ADVANTAGES .............................................................................................................. 9
2.1.1 SAFETY FOR WATER ECOSYSTEM ........................................................................................... 10
2.1.2 NATURAL RESOURCES DEMAND ............................................................................................. 10
2.1.3 EFFICIENCY............................................................................................................................. 10
2.1.4 NOISE FREE ............................................................................................................................. 11
2.1.5 CLEAN ENERGY SOURCE ......................................................................................................... 11
3 OFFSHORE WINDFARMS DISTRIBUTION IN DATA .................................................................. 11
3.1 GLOBAL OFFSHORE FARMS DATA ................................................................................................... 11
3.1.1 GLOBAL WIND CAPACITY ....................................................................................................... 12
3.1.2 INSTALLED CAPACITY FOR 2019............................................................................................. 13
3.2 FORECAST AND EXPANSION OF OFFSHORE WIND FARMS .............................................................. 14
3.2.1 REPORT OF UNDER CONSTRUCTION OFFSHORE WINDFARMS ................................................. 14
3.2.2 FORECAST & DEPLOYMENT .................................................................................................... 15
3.2.2 PROJECTION OF INSTALLED CAPACITIES ................................................................................ 16
4 ONSHORE VS. OFFSHORE................................................................................................................. 17
4.1 SIMILAR ATTRIBUTES OF OFFSHORE AND ONSHORE WIND FARMS .............................................. 17
4.2 DIFFERENCES IN WIND POWER AND COSTS IN OFFSHORE AND ONSHORE.................................... 17
4.2.1 ONSHORE REVIEW .................................................................................................................. 18
4.2.2 OFFSHORE REVIEW ................................................................................................................. 18
5 CONCLUSIONS ..................................................................................................................................... 19
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................... 20
Offshore wind farms 3

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Foundation overview ........................................................................................................ 8
Figure 2. Exponential growth of installed capacity, NREL (2020) ................................................ 12
Figure 3. Annual installed capacity and its growth. NREL (2020) ................................................ 13
Figure 4. Growth in installed capacity. NREL (2020) ................................................................... 13
Figure 5. Growth of the installed capacity annually. NREL (2020) .............................................. 14
Figure 6. World’s leading countries in construction of capacity for 2019. NREL (2020)............. 15
Figure 7. Forecast of linear growth by 2025. NREL (2019) .......................................................... 15
Figure 8. Projections of cumulative installed capacity on the global. NREL (2020) .................... 16
Figure 9. Cumulative Offshore Wind Capacity by Country Based on Developer-Announced through
2025. NREL (2020)................................................................................................................. 16

LIST OF TABLES
Tab. 1 Blade properties .................................................................................................................... 5
Tab. 2 Properties of current blade materials ................................................................................... 6
Tab. 3 Another table ....................................................................................................................... 17
Tab. 4 Comparison of advantages and disadvantages offshore farms. The energy fix (2021) ...... 17
Offshore wind farms 4

INTRODUCTION

Not many decades ago, as the technology started to develop rapidly, demand for energy
consumption has never been before that high. After the invention of alternate current, engineers
and scientist were in constant pursuit of the energy sources. The most popular in use are fossil
fuels. According to ourworldindata.org (as source to be mentioned), in 2019. Total amount of fuel
consumption on global level has reached more than 120000 TWh (terawatt-hours). The primary
contributors are coal, oil and gas. However, intense studies on fossil fuel and their effect on
environment has brough concerns among the electricity producers. There is a constant fear of raise
of CO2, by that scientist and engineers have come to conclusion that they should switch to
renewable source of energy. In fact, fossil fuels will be completely spent by 2050. According to
the studies of data analytics.

As wind power continues its rapid growth worldwide, offshore wind farms are likely to comprise
a significant portion of the total production of wind energy and may even become a sizable
contributor to the total electricity production in some countries. The high quality offshore wind
resource and the proximity to load centers make offshore wind energy a compelling proposition.
Offshore wind turbines have the potential to be a significant contributor to global energy production
because of the proximity of the high quality wind resource to coastal energy loads.

This project will deal with a topic of the offshore wind farms source of energy. On the beginning
the flow of the project will go according to describe design and performance of the windmill,
following topics would be about advantages of the wind farms. However, issues such as in
transmission and reports would be pointed out for better understanding of the problem and bringing
up of the possible solutions. Project will end with ecological facts about offshore wind farms, and
how it affects the ecosystem of the waters, such as sea and oceans, whether it can mitigate incoming
natural disasters such as hurricanes or any wild storm followed with a strong wind. In the end, there
is going to be presented the facts about offshore and onshore, and comparison between it.
Offshore wind farms 5

1 DESIGN OF OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES

This chapter describes the design and realization of offshore wind turbines. While offshore wind
turbines are seemingly identical to their onshore counterparts, there are vast differences in multiple
aspects of design, installation, service and maintenance. The environment poses a broad range of
issues, which renders several onshore solutions not only inappropriate, but also dangerous for both
the service personnel and the wind turbine itself.

1.1 Wind turbine design

1.1.1 Nacelle
A nacelle is the housing at the top of the wind turbine tower, which contains all components
necessary for generating electricity. This includes the generator, gearbox, drive train and brake
assembly. In onshore wind turbines, the nacelle is commonly accessed via lifts or ladders contained
in the tower. While this method of accessed is also widely used in offshore wind turbines, with the
difference that the access point is elevated from the sea level in order to avoid flooding, newer
offshore wind turbines are built with access platforms on top of the nacelle. This allows for
personnel to be transported via a helicopter to the wind turbine.

1.1.4 Blade design

The design of wind turbine blades is a process which requires a careful balance between several
design requirements, which are often negatively influencing each other. Maximizing the energy
yield of the turbine by using blades of an aerodynamic shape with the smallest possible thickness
would result in the blades being structurally inefficient, and at the risk of fracturing themselves and
damaging the entire wind turbine. The goal of blade design is therefore not about the maximum
possible energy yield, but rather about minimizing the cost of generated energy, while ensuring the
survivability of the blades under extreme loads. Considering the cost of energy, the differences
between using two or three blades in a wind turbine are marginal. The reduction of power
coefficient while using two blades is offset by the price reduction, due to less material requirements
and lower transportation and installation costs. However, two bladed turbines have a drawback.
Wind shear and tower shadow, where a blade is directly covering the front of the tower, occur at
the same time when the rotor is in its vertical position. This has negative influences on fatigue
loading.
Offshore wind farms 6

1.1.4 Tower design

While the tower is a relatively simple structure as opposed to the nacelle and its components, it
contributes more to the cost of offshore wind turbines than in onshore installations, almost 20%,
which means there is a substantial potential to reduce the overall cost of the wind turbine by
optimizing the tower. Onshore tower heights were set by the diameter of the rotor blades with added
height for blade clearance, however, low wind areas and forests demanded higher towers in order
to obtain a better energy output. This does not concern offshore wind turbines therefore shorter
towers are viable.

1.2 Material demands

1.2.1 Tower
While designing the tower structure, it is important to consider the strength of the used material,
which almost exclusively steel, as well as its weight. The weight of the tower contributes to 30% -
65% of the total combined weight of the wind turbine in its entirety. Higher grades of steel generally
cost more but can lower the material requirement by as much as 30%, due to the higher structural
strength of the tower. This may result in situations where the usage of higher-grade materials may
reduce the overall costs, due to the lower transportation costs.

1.2.2 Blades
The material used in blades of wind turbines must possess several properties in order to achieve
optimal ratio between cost, sustainability and performance.

Property Effect
Low weight and low density Lowers load due to gravitational forces
High strength Increased maximum allowed wind speed
High fatigue resistance Increased resistance to cyclic loads
High stiffness Increased stability and easier blade orientation
High fracture toughness Increased durability
Environmental resistance Increased durability
Table 1. Blade properties

Currently, the materials which fulfil this on large-scale wind turbines are fibre reinforced plastics.
They consist of a polymer matrix, which is reinforced with fibres. This type of material features
high stiffness, good fatigue properties, low density an manufacturing flexibility. Two most
common materials of this type used in wind turbines are E-glass and carbon. While Carbon has
Offshore wind farms 7

better properties overall, it costs significantly more. The use of carbon is mostly limited to local
reinforcements only. Properties of these two materials are shown in the following table:

Property E-glass Carbon

Stiffness [GPa] 72 350
Tensile strength [Mpa] 3500 4000
Density [kg ⋅ m-3] 2540 1770
Table 2. Properties of current blade materials

1.2.3 External forces

Compared to onshore wind turbines, offshore wind turbines require additional protection
counteract negative influences of the environment. The tower construction must be reinforced
according to the expected forces acting upon it. Since one of the reasons for installing wind turbines
offshore is the substantially higher wind speeds, the design of both the tower and the blades must
account for larger forces exerted upon it. The tower itself must be also able to withstand several
different forces. In addition to the different wind speeds at the top of the turbine, and its base, the
forces of flowing water, such as waves and underwater currents, must be considered while
designing the towers for offshore wind turbines.

1.2.4 Corrosion
The installation of wind turbines in large lakes or oceans, introduces the problem of expediated
corrosion on the surface of the steel construction of the tower, with the latter further intensifying
this problem due to the negative influence of salt. This is commonly solved by extensive coating
of the surfaces, with multiple coatings of epoxy, where the width exceeds 0.5 mm, and a final top
coating of hydrophobic polyurethane. Furthermore, cathodic protection can be used. This is a
technique of creating an electrochemical cell, where the material is protected from corrosion by
making it the cathode of the cell. The anode is a piece of connected metal which is more susceptible
to corrosion than the protected metal. The cathode is protected from corrosion, while the anode
corrodes at a faster rate.

1.3 Offshore wind turbine construction

The construction of offshore wind turbines requires a substructure and an underwater foundation.
Currently the overwhelming majority of offshore wind turbines are constructed on a fixed
foundation, however, there is an ongoing research and development of floating wind turbines.
Offshore wind farms 8

1.3.1 Fixed offshore wind turbines

Fixed foundations are considered viable in depths up to 30-80 metres, depending on which type of
foundation is used. The most common type of foundation is monopile, which is a single column
driven into seabed, on which a transition piece is mounted that extends above sea level with the
tower of the wind turbine connected to it. Other used foundations include tripod piled structures,
gravity base structures and tripod suction caisson structures, all of which are used in depths ranging
from 20 to 80 metres. And overview of used foundations can be seen in fig. 1.

1.3.2 Floating offshore wind turbines

In areas with limited shallow waters along the coast, such as Japan, the use of a floating base may
provide a solution to offshore wind turbines. It consists of a floating platform, which is anchored
by cable to the seabed, either free floating or held in place by tension. In the future, floating offshore
wind turbines are said to be viable in depths ranging from 50 to 1000 metres. There are currently
two operational wind farms, Hywind Scotland with a capacity of 30 MW, and WindFloat Atlantic
in Portugal, with a capacity of 25 MW.

Figure 1 Foundation overview

(a - monopile, b - skirted caisson, c - jacket structure, d – tripod, e - floating with anchors)

1.5 Grid connection

For transmission of electrical energy, offshore wind farms use underwater cables connected to land.
There are 3 major offshore transmission technologies. Medium-voltage alternating-current
(MVAC), high-voltage alternating current (HVAC) and high-voltage direct-current (HVDC).

1.5.1 MVAC transmission

In MVAC transmissions, electrical energy is transmitted as 33 kV for a maximum distance of 20
km, into onshore substations. These substations use step up transformers to transform the medium
Offshore wind farms 9

voltage to the onshore grid voltage. This is considered to be the simplest arrangement for
transmission.

1.5.2 HVAC transmission

HVAC is used for transmission ranging from 20 to 70 km, at a high voltage of 132 kV and more.
HVAC transmission is used to extend the reach of MVAC transmissions, where turbines are
transmitting MVAC to an offshore substation, where it is converted to HVAC and then transmitted
onshore.

1.5.3 HVDC transmission

HVDC is used to further increase the maximum distance of transmission, which is 70 km and
above. Similarly to MVAC/HVAC, it requires an offshore converter platform, where HVAC is
converted to HVDC. The power cables used to transmit HVDC can also be interconnected to
multiple grids of two or more countries. HVDC requires onshore converter stations, for this
purpose, there are two main technologies. Line-commutated converter (LCC) and self-commutated
voltage source converter (VSC). LCC is a mature technology, which requires strong AC grids on
both sides and cover a relatively large are, therefore they are not suitable for offshore wind farms.
VSC is a new technology, which allows independent control of active and reactive power, and
requires less space than LCC, which currently makes it the most suitable technology for offshore
wind farms.

2 ADVANTAGES
In this chapter, there is going to be mentioning about advantages in terms of efficiency and location
of the offshore wind farms. This has been recognized as the serious potential in generating
electricity and its distribution within electrical network. According to 4subsea, Europe is a leading
with a number of offshore wind farms. In order to find out what these wind farms are special with,
this chapter will deal with 5 aspects of advantages of offshore wind farms. However, some sources
are telling that people will find these offshore wind farms ugly, as its desecrating the view on the
sea and also budget for construction on the sea is really high. Windustry.com stated that price range
for turbine would be from 1.3 million $ up to 2.2 million $ per MW. Commercially-scale turbines
costs for 2MW around 3 to 4 million dollars installed. Beside of these budgets, investing into clean
energy should be at high priority in order to lower emission of pollution and mitigating respiratory
diseases.

2.1 Ecological advantages

In recent times, ecology and its protection is on high priority for the world governments as they
have a goal to reduce emission of CO2 and enhance quality of the air. Pursuit for the clean
technology has been always on demand. That’s why one of the potential solutions for clean
renewable energy is wind farms. Offshore wind farms have been showing a great advantage in
Offshore wind farms 10

terms from ecological aspect as it doesn’t pollute waters. However, constant research on ecosystem
on waters has been questioning this technology and its adaptation. Still some questions haven’t
been answered, but over the time and collected data, better locations will be chosen for wind farms.
In a interesting article of company 4subsea, there are couple of advantages pointed out for better
understanding of the concept of windfarms and its impact on ecosystem of the sea.

2.1.1 Safety for water ecosystem

According to the research of the company 4subsea.com, there are analysis in high quantity relating
negativity towards offshore wind farms. As the articles saying, there is a high potential of negative
impact on water ecosystem. For an example birds may collide with turbines. On the other hand,
there are no evidence of negative impact on aquatic ecosystem. Deutsche welle has been releasing
articles on offshore wind farms and its effects on ocean ecosystem. Article deals with a numerous
scientific research on impact. For an example, data has been gathered from 3600 turbines operating
along European coasts, with 14 more wind farms under development. However, this approach of
rapid development may change how the turbines affect environment. In a Mediterranean water, the
companies which they are doing construction of wind farms have learned the lesson from Nordic
waters. This time, they have been taking a caution of water ecosystem where they cannot endanger
mammal creatures. Reports showing from US coast that windfarms could protect the endangered
species as the whales for an example. The new term has been created as “Ocean Sanctuaries”. Wind
farms can limit fisherman to hunt for whales and other marine creatures thanks to the massive
windmills. Another beneficial point is seafloor ecosystem is recovering thanks to the absence of
fisherman, where fisherman would damage with huge nets. Uncertainty of the long-term
consequences of wind turbines on marine life are still unclear.

2.1.2 Natural resources demand

In the article, 4subsea is pointing out that for wind farms, it is not necessarily demanding space to
be constructed. In comparing to on shore farms were the trees has to be cut, offshore wind farms
doesn’t require this approach thanks to the location on sea. Careful planning is necessary for setting
windmills.

2.1.3 Efficiency

In terms of efficiency, wind farms have greater advantage than on shore. Onshore windfarms are
having challenges of obstruction of the wind, mostly from mountains, building, various hills etc.
while the shoreline turbines are located couple of kilometres away from coast where wind doesn’t
have obstruction. Clear passage of wind contributes increased efficiency and more generation of
electric power. Comparing to onshore, average turbine generates 3 MW capacity which can cover
Offshore wind farms 11

1500 household per year while offshore wind turbine is far more efficient with 3.6 MW with
providing of energy to 3300 households over a year.

2.1.4 Noise free

Thanks to the location of the windfarms, there are no noise which can annoy nearby area residents.
Interesting point there is that even few kilometres away from coastline still it cannot cause distress
to its surrounding.

2.1.5 Clean energy source

Windmills are definitely better solution to replace non-renewable energy sources. While the human
population is on constant rise, consumption and energy resource drain will be more increased, at
some point where the energy sources will run out. That’s why windmills uses natural phenomenon
caused by different pressures in the atmosphere. As long wind exists, wind farms can utilise wind
energy for electricity

3 OFFSHORE WINDFARMS DISTRIBUTION IN DATA

One of the key aspects to business operations especially when it comes to distribution of the electric
energy, data analytics are crucial in pointing out on trends. Reading a trend may impact on business
operation decisions, finding the pain point in it will surely lead to a improvements. This chapter
will deal with a data, where through various trends where the construction, production will be
indicated. For this project, data from 2019 offshore wind technology will be used for showcasing
of the progress of the data on the global scale, but primarily geographical location will be dedicated
to the top contributors of offshore wind farms and its production. As the AI is in rapid improving,
more and more accurate forecasts have been made in order to determine certainty of the future.
However, data can’t be 100 percent accurate without single error. That’s why the metadata is being
inspected before any action with machine learning will happen. From the perspective of
consistency of this chapter, source has been drawn from NREL or National Renewable Energy
Laboratory which they released annual data report for 2019. Stating latest data in their research.
Release of this research is from October 2020.

3.1 Global offshore farms data

This subchapter will focus more on the capacity on the global scale. There going to be shown trends
of 9 regions on global scale where effort in installation of capacity will be indicated. Thus, the data
will bring clearer picture about its operation efficiency. United Kingdom, Germany, China,
Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, Other Europe, Other Asia and United States will be an example
Offshore wind farms 12

of scope of objective and its production capacity. Data has been retrospectively shown from 2000
till 2019. Thus, the progress of its constructions will be reflected upon statistical data.

3.1.1 Global wind capacity

According to research done by NREL (2020) from 2016, there is a significant growth in a
cumulative installed capacity. By 2019, capacity grew up to 27 064 MW. United kingdom and
Germany are the leading countries in contribution of added capacity. China is taking third place
with less than 12 000 MW capacity. Below figure indicates findings of NREL research on global
level of cumulative installed capacity.

Figure 2. Exponential growth of installed capacity, NREL (2020)

As per figure, data trends originating from 2000 which in total for 19 years, it recorded exponential
growth. On the following figure, commercial operation is presented in bar plot chart where annual
installed capacity is shown. United Kingdom and Germany are having a significant growth in 2013,
2015 and in a year of 2018.However, China has rapid development in their installations which can
be seen from graph in 2018 – 2019. Record high-capacity additions have reached at 5 618 MW in
2019.
Offshore wind farms 13

Figure 3. Annual installed capacity and its growth. NREL (2020)

3.1.2 Installed capacity for 2019.

In a following research conducted by NREL (2020), there are 5 countries which they have been
considered as the main contributors of installation of the capacity for 2019. China is leading with
the most installed capacity with 47% or 2656.4 MW of the new additions, while Germany has
installed 1257 MW or 22% of new addition. Following countries as Belgium, United Kingdom and
Denmark are taking the remaining of a major share. In below figure, major progress has been
interpreted through plotting.

Figure 4. Growth in installed capacity. NREL (2020)

In terms of cumulative offshore wind installed by capacity, United Kingdom is leading with the
most installed capacity 8 478 MW. However, findings of NREL are indicating that UK are
having relatively steady growth for the past decade. Germany is following also the steady growth
trend which in data we can see that the trend is starting from 2015. China is on a third place of
cumulative capacity with a total of 6000 MW installed but graph indicates there fastest growing
of installation in a world so far which has tendency to surpass the global leading UK.
Offshore wind farms 14

Figure 5. Growth of the installed capacity annually. NREL (2020)

3.2 Forecast and expansion of offshore wind farms
This subchapter will deal with a forecasting and expansion of wind farms where in previous
subchapter we learned about trend and its retrospective from 2000. till 2019. Research conducted
by NREL (2020) has included the data of “under construction capacity” where these capacities
have not gone yet in operation and its potential. From data, interesting findings have been pointed
out to a countries which they have not been yet in scope in previous subchapter, but now they have
been showcasing a potential in contributing in capacity of offshore wind farms on global scale.

3.2.1 Report of under construction offshore windfarms

In findings of NREL (2020), there are 21 872 MW offshore wind farms reported to be “under
construction at the end of 2019. These wind farms haven’t been yet connected with a main
distribution, but measurements have been done in order to predict how many of capacity will be in
use once it goes live. Total of 10 611 MW of projects are reported from China, which by enabling
all this capacities, for few years it may be a world leading country by offshore wind farms. While
the UK has been planning only to add 5 626 MW which is approximately 53 percent less than
China. Interesting finding by NREL (2020) are indicating as Netherlands would be a significant
contributor of 1886 MW. Last but not least, United States have shown least interest in constructing
of wind farms which their total planned capacity is only 12 MW. Below figure indicates trend of
planned projects of capacity.
Offshore wind farms 15

Figure 6. World’s leading countries in construction of capacity for 2019. NREL (2020)
3.2.2 Forecast & deployment

Furthermore, in research conducted by NREL (2020), data gathered from certain countries has been
showing a significant movement on the global scale. Prediction tells that in a next five years, there
is going to be a exponential linear growth on the global scale up to 120 00 MW. Although findings,
China will have a significant interest in developing of capacities where in 2021. Will have the
highest deployment in terms of capacity. In the data, countries labelled under “other Asia” will
have surprising growth in development in next 5 years. Activation of US in terms of making their
capacities will be far more significant in 2024. Countries such as Germany and UK and rest of the
Europe will have less capacities deployed than China and rest of the Asia. In below figure, data of
overall capacity forecast and capacity growth per country is shown as the primarily indicators to
the contribution of the global capacity.

Figure 7. Forecast of linear growth by 2025. NREL (2019)

Offshore wind farms 16

3.2.2 Projection of installed capacities

Forecast data has not been that accurate since the most of companies hasn’t been yet confirmed
ongoing of planning of projects. Thus, the data cannot be showcased as the potential addition to a
forecasted overall cumulative capacity by 2025. Only official announcements and official projects
registered are taken in scope of observation, while the unplanned are taken of the scope of
observation because they haven’t been yet officially confirmed. In the following projection done
by NREL (2020) based on data gathered by officially confirmed projects, the total installed capacity
will reach 117 186 MW. China is expected to be a global leader in installed offshore wind farms
by 2025.

Figure 8. Projections of cumulative installed capacity on the global. NREL (2020)

Figure 9. Cumulative Offshore Wind Capacity by Country Based on Developer-Announced

through 2025. NREL (2020)
Offshore wind farms 17

4 ONSHORE VS. OFFSHORE

In the last chapter of the project, there is going to be showcased advantages and disadvantages of
the onshore and offshore wind farms. This comparison would bring clearer conclusion and
intentions of countries which they are main contributors of installed capacities. “Wind power is
present in the renewable energy” is stated in the article written by theenergyfix.com (2021) and its
meaning behind the words is to intentionally draws attention to the use of the wind. There are no
considerable difference between a construction of the turbines. On the onshore windfarms, turbines
together with whole windmill is fixed to the ground while the offshore windmills are floating in
water, which is perfectly stable. There are some cases indicates that near the shores or nearshore
farms are fixed but this is just because of the depth of the water. Also, this chapter will deal with
pricing reviews whether the construction is expensive on the land or on the sea. This could be
contradicting to a fact that the wind is free, but the technology used for construction and overall
making supply chain for electricity distribution is quite challenging. Furthermore, regarding to
pricing, we will be introduced with a prediction for pricing (Tiempo development, 2021).

5.1 Similar attributes of offshore and onshore wind farms

It is well known that is onshore and offshore considered as the prominent technologies for wind
power generation. It provides clean renewable energy for the grid and its making contributions to
reduce the carbon footprint. In comparison to design, onshore turbines are smaller comparing to
offshore turbines, but mechanical properties are the same. Passing wind through the blade, it
triggers the lift motion that provides a kinetic force used in a complex process by an asynchronous
generator which generates energy. Materials used for construction are similar as well, however for
offshore turbines, there has to be made some small alteration to provide safety against higher winds.
Thus, these similarities are stopping at the terms of coasting thanks to the additional materials
added to the offshore wind turbines. (the energy fix, 2021; tiempo development, 2021)

5.2 Differences in wind power and costs in offshore and onshore

The energy fix (2021) pointed out the disparities between onshore and offshore wind farms in terms
of costing and location. Regarding to location, onshore turbines are quite difficult to find a proper
location for instalment. Usually, their locations would be away from residential buildings, located
on hills or places where there is no transit zone for traffic. Onshore turbines installed on the land
in terms of costs are much cheaper to be made than the offshore. Offshore wind farms require
underwater cables, platform, interconnection and etc. Also, what makes more expensive are
transportation to the turbine and back, because in this process is used helicopters in case that there
Offshore wind farms 18

needs to be done some maintenance. (The energy fix, 2021) However, onshore disadvantages are
facing with primarily with a location, where the terrain needs to be studied, to be verified average
windspeed and to determine possibilities, which offshore doesn’t have these problems as on the
seas, wind is always presented, providing reliable and efficient power generation.

5.2.1 Onshore review

Article which has been dealt with a study of onshore and offshore wind farms, The energy fix(2021)
pointed out that the coasting of these farms are much more cheaper. Also, in this cheaper option,
infrastructure for energy transmission is included. By 2020. Article stated that wind prices can be
up to 20 $/MWh, while overlooking it on 2030, this price may go even lower. Requirement for a
minimum distance would be 150m to avoid any form of disruption.

Advantages Disadvantages
- Lower installation cost - Increased demand for analytics when it
- Generated energy is easy to be comes to wind speed and additional
connected with a grid studies on efficiency
- Companies tend to focus more on - Space could be limited
onshore farm installation - Locating of turbines needs to be away
- Maintenance cost is not from population, as the turbines are
demanding making noises
Table 3. Comparison of advantages and disadvantages onshore farms. The energy fix (2021)

5.2.2 Offshore review

Pricing of the offshore wind farms installation may be 20 % higher according than onshore
according to the energy fix article. That requires extra materials, energy transmission and other
technical challenges needs to be solved. Pricing of the wind by 2019. Was costed only 78 $/ MWh.
Some forecasts saying that by the year of 2038, wind power will be cheap as the fossil fuel. In
terms of space, offshore doesn’t meet challenges. Minimum required distance for offshore farms
from coast should be at least 370 km and 50 feet deep into the ocean floor. (The energy fix, 2021)

Advantages
- Installation is suitable for larger
areas
- Higher potential for power
generation due to faster and
constant winds
- Wind turbines are much more
larger than onshore
- No interference to the land terrains
Table 4. Comparison of advantages and disadvantages offshore farms. The energy fix (2021)
Disadvantages
- Higher costs for installation
- Underwater noises and turbines can
impact fauna over bodies of water and
kill migrating birds
- Maintenance is more demanding and
harder
- Energy restoration time may be higher
than offshore in case of malfunction
Offshore wind farms 19

5 CONCLUSIONS

This project has taught us about experience of wind turbines and its impact on electrical
distribution. The World is struggling with ongoing pollution and developed countries are struggling
in emission of CO2. However, primary focus has been set on renewable sources of energy, the one
which can bring benefits to the electrical grid and to departments of energy. Our topic was about
the offshore wind farms, one of the greatest examples of human technology. Offshore wind farms
have the interesting properties in comparison to the onshore ones. In fact, offshore wind farms are
generating more electrical power than onshore wind farms. However, because of that they are
substantially more expensive. Also, we showcased data researched by NREL about cumulative
installed capacities of offshore wind farms, where we can observe, what kind of trends are there
and what it would be in a couple of years. On top of that, design has been explained about turbines
and how they are functioning and properties. From our findings, we can conclude that this piece of
recent innovation which is lasting for decades, will make significant impact on our future as the
replacement to fossil fuels.
 References 20

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