Análise de tecnologias e custos para inserção da energia eólica offshore na costa brasileira

Abstract

This study performs a technical analysis of technologies that make up an offshore wind farm, from an extensive literature review, and goes from that analysis to perform an assessment of the levelized cost of energy for offshore wind energy projects off the Brazilian coast. For this, all the main components of a wind plant to be installed in offshore environment were analyzed, such as: turbines, types of substructure (including fixed and floating base), anchoring system for floating base turbines, installation methods, electrical infrastructure, operation and maintenance of the plant, among others. To assess costs, a 600 MW reference project was developed, and a methodology based on international cost modeling studies, based on actual projects implemented in Europe, was implemented. The cost methodology was applied to wind potential hotspots off the Brazilian coast, selected according to previous studies, for which capital costs (Capex) and operating costs (Opex) were calculated. For each selected project site, annual energy production was calculated through simulations in the RETScreen software, also obtaining the capacity factor of each projected wind farm. With the cost and power generation values, the levelized cost of energy for each of the defined projects was calculated.