Study on the optimization strategy of offshore wind power

Offshore wind power is considered a promising renewable energy source; unfortunately, its weighted average levelized cost of electricity is still too high to compete with renewable energies such as photovoltaics. This is in large part due to the high construction cost of offshore wind power, even though it has fallen substantially with technological advances and the accumulation of experience. This paper optimizes the cost from two aspects. Because large-scale wind farms have better bargaining and scheduling power, we analyse in detail the relationship between the cost of different key components and the scale of the wind farm, and if the decommissioned wind farm chooses to repower, costs such as cables and foundations can be saved, which can further reduce the costs. Our studies show that compared with a 400-MW offshore wind farm, 1000 MW can reduce the unit cost by ~10.3%, and its cost is ~13 239 RMB/kW. If repowering is chosen, there is a further reduction of ~28.6%, and its cost is ~9450 RMB/kW. We recommend using larger offshore wind farms and choosing repowering after they are decommissioned to get better economics.