A multi-attribute review toward effective planning of end-of-life strategies for offshore wind farms

Abstract

With many offshore wind turbines (OWTs) approaching the end of their estimated service life, there is an increasing demand for developing and evaluating end-of-life strategies that can maximize these assets' value while at the same time satisfying the requirements of the stakeholders involved. This study aims to perform a detailed review and develop a framework that will consider multiple criteria in the decision-making process, presenting and discussing available technologies and strategies, as well as influencing factors such as schedule, cost and environmental impact. Service life extension, repowering and decommissioning are included in this review as the main end-of-life strategies considered by asset owners, and these are translated into four processes that are applicable to offshore wind farms through a generic decision tree. A SWOT analysis is also conducted which aims to compare the different characteristics of the proposed processes. The factors contributing to the uncertainty of the processes as well as lessons learnt from the oil & gas industry are also discussed.

Factors Influencing the Decision-Making Process at the End-of-Life Cycle of Onshore Wind Farms: A Systematic Review

“…The repowering process is related to the renewal of capture equipment, in which structures, such as wind turbines, are dismantled in order to replace them with more modern elements with a greater production capacity [20][21][22]. Repowering also has the possibility of being carried out partially in wind farms.…”

Environmental Impact Assessment for the decommissioning of offshore wind farms

“…Consideration of the Zero Waste Hierarchy at the earliest stage of development is crucial in order for renewable energy generation to be sustainable, particularly as structures become larger in size and require more raw and recycled material. A balance needs to be struck between the various environmental, economic, and social aspects of building, life-extending, and decommissioning a wind farm [61], as well as safety to personnel and the environment, and feasibility of strategies [62]. With these topics gathering increasing attention as…”

“…Environmental Impact Assessment for the decommissioning of offshore wind farms renewable energy targets grow and existing infrastructure ages, frameworks for the consideration of end-of-life strategies are emerging [42,[62][63][64].…”