Micrositing
Maximizing project´s Return on Investment
by Preventing Projects Delay, Cost Overrun and Revenue Losses
Assessing Park Layout, Site Suitability, Annual Energy Production (AEP), and Metocean Data are essential steps in the planning phase of an offshore wind project. Each involves distinct technical activities that help optimize performance, ensure safety, and manage project risks.
1.
Park Layout Assessment
- Turbine Placement Optimization: Use wind flow models to optimize turbine placement, maximizing energy yield while minimizing wake effects and turbine loading.
- Wake Effect Modeling: Simulate wake interactions between turbines to assess energy losses due to turbulence and shadowing.
- Electrical Layout Design: Design the array cabling layout and optimize it to reduce electrical losses and cabling costs. This includes evaluating cable routes, inter-array cabling, and export cable configuration.
- Spacing and Density Analysis: Calculate optimal spacing between turbines to balance power output with structural loading and minimize potential maintenance issues.
- Navigational and Safety Buffer Zones: Determine buffer distances from shipping lanes, fishing zones, and other marine activities to reduce collision risks and allow safe access for maintenance.
- Environmental and Regulatory Compliance: Ensure compliance with regulations governing noise, underwater habitats, and bird and marine life impact.
- Others.
2.
Site Suitability Assessment
- Seabed and Soil Condition Analysis: Conduct geophysical and geotechnical surveys to analyze the seabed profile, soil composition, and load-bearing capacity, guiding foundation design.
- Geological Hazard Identification: Identify risks such as seismic activity, seabed instability, or subsurface obstructions that could impact foundation stability and safety.
- Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA): Evaluate potential impacts on marine life, bird populations, and the surrounding environment, often required by regulatory bodies.
- Infrastructure Accessibility: Assess proximity to grid connection points, ports, and maintenance bases for logistical feasibility and cost efficiency.
- Marine and Human Activity Mapping: Map nearby activities (shipping routes, fisheries, recreation) to minimize conflicts and enhance safety.
- Regulatory and Permit Compliance Check: Review local regulations to ensure the site complies with zoning, environmental protection, and permitting requirements.
- Others
3.
AEP (Annual Energy Production) Assessment
- Wind Resource Analysis: Analyze long-term wind data from on-site met masts, LiDAR, or remote sensing technology to establish average wind speed, direction, and variability.
- Wind Flow Modeling: Use computational models to simulate wind behavior at different turbine heights and across the park area, accounting for complex airflow patterns.
- Turbine Power Curve Assessment: Apply manufacturer-provided power curves to wind data, estimating potential energy production from each turbine.
- Wake Loss and Efficiency Analysis: Calculate losses from wake effects, considering how turbines influence each other's performance.
- Availability and Downtime Estimation: Estimate turbine availability based on historical reliability data, factoring in planned and unplanned maintenance.
- Long-term AEP Prediction and Uncertainty Analysis: Calculate expected AEP over the project’s lifetime and conduct uncertainty analysis to assess the impact of factors like wind variability and model accuracy on yield estimates.
- Others.
- Wind, Wave, and Current Data Collection: Hindcasting data. Manage to collect wind, wave, and current data through metocean buoys, met masts, or LiDAR. Analyze seasonal and long-term patterns in wave height, period, and current speeds.
- Extreme Condition Modeling: Use historical metocean data to model extreme conditions, including maximum wind speeds, wave heights, and currents that the site may experience.
- Turbine and Foundation Load Analysis: Use metocean data to calculate loads on the turbine structure and foundation, guiding structural design and materials selection.
- Marine Growth and Corrosion Potential Assessment: Study water salinity, temperature, and other factors affecting marine growth and corrosion, influencing maintenance schedules and protective coatings.
- Climate Change and Sea-Level Rise Projections: Consider future climate scenarios to model changes in sea levels, storm frequency, and intensity, which could impact operational risk and lifespan.
- Data Validation and Calibration: Cross-check metocean data with known regional datasets and validate models with direct measurements to ensure accuracy for design purposes.
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