A four-year project involving EPRI Europe has developed new design simulation models for offshore wind turbines, finding that using less material in turbine construction can reduce the cost per unit of produced energy by up to 9%. That could boost the competitiveness of offshore wind, helping the European Union meet its goal of installing 450 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2050.

Offshore wind turbines face harsher conditions than their onshore counterparts, necessitating robust designs that often drive up costs, namely the capital costs and the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE).

Throughout the HIPERWIND project, EPRI Europe collaborated with DTU Wind and Energy Systems, ETH Zürich, EDF, IFPEN, University of Bergen, and DNV to develop methods for turbine loads, maintenance planning, and health and reliability assessments. By considering the entire design chain, the approach reduced capital expenses, as well as operations and maintenance costs.

“The primary achievement of HIPERWIND is the integration of uncertainties into the design process,” said Nikolay Dimitrov, the project lead from DTU Wind. “We explored how to measure and identify different uncertainties, such as environmental conditions, loads, and wind turbine reliability. By understanding these uncertainties better, the researchers were able to reduce material usage and lower energy costs.”

Specifically, the project used a real-world case study of the Teesside offshore wind farm in England, owned by EDF. The team assessed whether improved knowledge could reduce costs if the wind farm were rebuilt.  HIPERWIND highlighted how using less material in turbine construction can reduce upfront costs, which comprise about 30% of the overall cost of energy. Additional savings were achieved by scheduling maintenance during low energy price periods.

“HIPERWIND could be a game-changer,” said Clément Jacquet, senior researcher in wind farm optimization of EPRI Europe. “The methodology has demonstrated the feasibility of designing more efficient systems. This adaptable framework could help companies save money on future onshore and offshore wind farms, and ultimately provide consumers with greater cost savings.”

Future research will focus on the development of these developed methodologies in production. This project was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No. 101006689.

All data and publications resulting from the project are publicly available on the website: https://www.hiperwind.eu/. Watch video interviews with:

• Nikolay Dimitrov, DTU Wind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJw6EMfAWMs  
• Clément Jacquet, EPRI Europe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVjuYjAKnfA