Introduction
Currently, environmental protection and minimization of global warming have been contemporary issues around the world. People and institutions have been formulating ways to produce clean and renewable energy that can be used for domestic consumption (Akbari et al., 2020). Currently, individuals and some organizations are using the technology to harness winds and convert them into power. To facilitate large-scale and maximum energy production, companies have opted to locate their sites along the coastal regions. This research paper will analyze the development of offshore wind farms (OWFs) and their contribution to the sustainable environment.
OWFs plants are well equipped with facilities capable of capturing wind power, transforming it into electrical energy, and then supplying it to the main station for distribution. They are mainly located in water bodies along with coastal areas (Díaz & Soares, 2020). The farms rely on the winds from the oceans to produce the required thrust because of their flow speed. Furthermore, the choice of location is to enhance reliability due to the presence of both onshore and offshore winds. According to the current statistics, wind technology generates about 0.3 percent of the world’s electricity. The focus is to achieve a sustainable energy system with limited greenhouse gases.
Offshore Wind Farm Design
When designing OWFs, the main objective is to produce more electrical energy at a minimal cost. In addition, the operations are aimed to stay within the site constraints. The process involves the establishment of the limiting factors like site boundary, the maximum number of facilities to be installed, identification of dwellings that rotor blade shadows may affect, and a minimum spacing of the turbines. Once all the possible risks have been assessed and identified, then the initial design of the OWFs can be launched. The stage involves determining the required size of the wind turbines (Feng & Shen, 2017). The considerations are based on the diameter range of the rotor blade and the hub heights.
A wind farm may consist of a single machine or many like over hundreds. Irrespective of the number of facilities, the construction method remains the same across the site. Two main factors that determine the cost of developing the plant include site complexity and extreme loads (Draycott et al., 2019). Complex location can be a result of difficult access, hard rocks, or even boggy grounds. Similarly, extreme loads are caused by strong winds flowing across the place, therefore, requiring a specified type of turbine. Upon completion, commissioning takes place, followed by routine inspection of the operations.
Strategic Planning of Wind Farms
The planning process starts with defining the mission and vision of the project on which other stages will be based. The phase involves combining both empirical and proactive strategies. In this procedure, the analysis of the current situation in the country is performed to evaluate energy independence and the future needs to produce consumer commodities like electricity (Spyridonidou et al., 2020). The next step is the exclusion of areas not suitable for OWFs. In this strategy, a geographic information system (GIS) mapping tool is used to synthesize data to help locate regions where sites can be located.
Another strategic plan is the determination of layout and technical specifications. This phase deals with the model selection of the wind turbine and the suitable structures based on the condition of the region. Furthermore, the cost estimation of the OWFs is calculated, and associated risks are evaluated (Florian & Sørensen, 2017). This includes estimates of the entire project’s capital, operational, and decommission expenditures in relation to the previous similar endeavor, which is still functioning. Lastly, the methodology involves the assessment of the portfolio outcome based on the overall estimates.
Advantages and Disadvantages
OWFs have several advantages like extensive free space for constructing large structures, availability of stronger winds yielding more power, consistent wind flow, ability to minimize noise pollution, providing renewable energy, and not release harmful carbon gases leading to environmental sustainability (Chipindula et al., 2018). Despite their merits, they still have some disadvantages, such as the cost of construction and maintenance of the assets from wave destruction (Afsharian et al., 2020). Furthermore, they might have an impact on the marine lives in the areas around the site.
Challenges
Designing and operating OWFs comes with a number of challenges. For example, the facilities are exposed to extreme weather conditions leading to corrosion and lightning strikes. In addition, they experience fatigue, erosion, and accumulation of microorganisms on the surfaces of the materials (Van den Berg et al., 2017). Moreover, other encounters are technical issues like choosing the right wind turbine and rotor blades suitable for the given location.
Conclusion and Recommendation
The development of OWFs is significant towards facilitating clean energy and promoting sustainable renewable power. The research has identified some challenges that are likely to hinder their design and establishment in different places. Having a proper strategic plan, the process of installing them can be simplified therefore increasing the capacity of power generated from the wind for domestic use. However, during site selection, proper research should be conducted to minimize possible risks that would increase the cost of operation. Governments should also conduct research to determine the effects of OWFs on marine lives (Kirchgeorg et al., 2018). When purchasing the wind turbines from the suppliers, the organization should ensure they have the right material based on the weather conditions of the wind plant. Within the factory, several wind turbines should be established to maximize the space to reduce the cost of constructing several locations.
References
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