Informing parametric risk control policies for operational uncertainties of offshore wind energy assets

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate uncertainties present during operation of offshore wind (OW) energy assets with a view to inform risk control policies for hedging of the incurring losses. The parametric framework developed is subsequently applied across a number of different locations in the South East Coast of the UK, so as to demonstrate the effect of weather conditions and resulting downtime on a number of operational Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), such as downtime due to planned and unplanned interventions, wind farm availability, Operation and Maintenance (O&M) costs and power production losses. Higher availability levels were observed in areas closer to shore of the specified region, while the distribution of O&M cost per MWh generated demonstrated a general trade-off of higher power generation in locations farther from shore due to better wind speed profiles and higher O&M costs, as a result of the decreasing vessels accessibility. The proposed methodology aspires to contribute to the development of better-informed risk control policies, through parametrically estimating the probability of exceedance curve of the production losses of an OW farm and indicating appropriate thresholds to be considered, so as not to exceed a maximum level of risk.