Methodology to Calculate the Costs of a Floating Offshore Renewable Energy Farm

Laura Castro-Santos, Elson Martins and C. Guedes Soares
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Laura Castro-Santos: Integrated Group for Engineering Research, Centro de Investigacións Tecnolóxicas, Departamento de Enxeñaría Naval e Oceánica, Escola Politécnica Superior, Universidade da Coruña, Campus de Ferrol, 15471 Ferrol, Spain
Elson Martins: Centre for Marine Technology and Ocean Engineering (CENTEC), Instituto Superior Tecnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
C. Guedes Soares: Centre for Marine Technology and Ocean Engineering (CENTEC), Instituto Superior Tecnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal

Energies, 2016, vol. 9, issue 5, 1-27

Abstract: This paper establishes a general methodology to calculate the life-cycle cost of floating offshore renewable energy devices, applying it to wave energy and wind energy devices. It is accounts for the contributions of the six main phases of their life-cycle: concept definition, design and development, manufacturing, installation, exploitation and dismantling, the costs of which have been defined. Moreover, the energy produced is also taken into account to calculate the Levelized Cost of Energy of a floating offshore renewable energy farm. The methodology proposed has been applied to two renewable energy devices: a floating offshore wave energy device and a floating offshore wind energy device. Two locations have been considered: Aguçadoura and São Pedro de Moel, both in Portugal. Results indicate that the most important cost in terms of the life-cycle of a floating offshore renewable energy farm is the exploitation cost, followed by the manufacturing and the installation cost. In addition, the best area in terms of costs is the same independently of the type of floating offshore renewable energy considered: Aguçadoura. However, the results in terms of Levelized Cost of Energy are different: Aguçadoura is better when considering wave energy technology and the São Pedro de Moel region is the best option when considering floating wind energy technology. The method proposed aims to give a direct approach to calculate the main life-cycle cost of a floating offshore renewable energy farm. It helps to assess its feasibility and evaluating the relevant characteristics that influence it the most.

Keywords: levelized cost of energy (LCOE); floating offshore renewable energy; marine renewable energy; life-cycle cost; wave energy; wind energy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (25)

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