Economic feasibility study for continued operation of German offshore wind farms

Abstract

With a large number of wind farms already deployed in German waters and aiming to achieve a minimum of 70 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2045, investigating the potential for extended operation of existing assets is an important task. This paper documents the development of a life cycle cost/revenue framework capable of incorporating CAPEX and OPEX related elements, revenue factors, and deployment location specific aspects, in order to support decisions on the business case for continued operation beyond the nominal service life. The framework called ELSA (Economic Life cycle Simulation and Assessment) is applied to a cumulative scenario which classifies all existing offshore wind farms in Germany with respect to size and key dimensions. Outcomes of the analysis support the case for extended operation, while highlighting the importance of wake effects to AEP, the magnitude and variability of O&M costs and finally the influence of CAPEX and financial modelling.