Life Cycle Assessment of Four Floating Wind Farms around Scotland Using a Site-Specific Operation and Maintenance Model with SOVs

Iain A. Struthers (), Nadezda Avanessova, Anthony Gray, Miriam Noonan, R. Camilla Thomson and Gareth P. Harrison
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Iain A. Struthers: School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FB, UK
Nadezda Avanessova: Industrial CDT in Offshore Renewable Energy (IDCORE), University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1XQ, UK
Anthony Gray: Research and Disruptive Innovation, ORE Catapult, Glasgow G1 1RD, UK
Miriam Noonan: Research and Disruptive Innovation, ORE Catapult, Glasgow G1 1RD, UK
R. Camilla Thomson: School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FB, UK
Gareth P. Harrison: School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FB, UK

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 23, 1-24

Abstract: This paper presents a life cycle assessment (LCA) of the International Energy Agency (IEA) 15 MW Reference Wind Turbine (RWT), on floating platforms, deployed in commercial-scale arrays at multiple locations around Scotland in the ScotWind leasing round. Site-specific energy production and vessel operations are provided by a dedicated offshore wind farm operations and maintenance (O&M) model, COMPASS, allowing service operation vessel (SOV) O&M impacts to be assessed with increased confidence. For climate change, the median global warming impact varied from 17.4 to 26.3 gCO 2 eq/kWh across the four sites within a 95% confidence interval using an uncertainty assessment of both foreground and background data. As is common with other offshore renewable energy systems, materials and manufacture account for 71% to 79% of global warming impact, while O&M comprise between 9% and 16% of the global warming impacts. High-voltage direct current (HVDC) export cables, floating platforms, and composite blades are significant contributors to the environmental impacts of these arrays (by mass and material choice), while the contributions from ballast, vessel transportation emissions, and power-train components are lower. The results suggest that material efficiencies, circularity, and decarbonizing material supply inventories should be a priority for the Scottish floating wind sector, followed by minimizing vessel operations and the decarbonization of vessel propulsion, while avoiding burden shifting to other impact categories.

Keywords: floating wind; life cycle assessment; operation and maintenance; offshore wind; environmental impact (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: 2023
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