Cost analysis of potential wind farms located at different regions in caspian sea

Abstract

In this study, considering the Wind Energy Potential of the Caspian Sea, the Levelized Costs of Energy and Capacity Factors have been investigated for potential wind farms near the Absheron Peninsula, Olya site, Atyrau site, and finally for Sulak City's shoreline. Before LCOE analysis, Simple Feasibility Study has been done for the Absheron Project. Economical aspects of wind energy, today and the future of the wind power industry and its advantages and disadvantages have been investigated. Capital Expenditures, Operation, and Maintenance Expenditures of the offshore wind farms have been checked. Azerbaijan's wind energy potential has been checked. In the shoreline of the Absheron Peninsula, two different wind farms have been planned and designed and their Levelized Costs of Energy have been analyzed. Besides, other regions of the Caspian Sea basin have been investigated and potential wind farms in certain areas have been designed and their LCOE and Capacity Factor results have been compared. All projects' layouts have been selected. Preliminary calculations have conducted for all projects. For these projects, chosen regions' bathymetric maps, their hydrometrological features have been analyzed. Sea borders and shipping roads of the regions have been checked. Wind speeds of certain areas have been extrapolated by the help of power law. In order to have better results, several wind turbine factories' products have been checked. Their power curves have been analyzed and the most efficient one has been chosen for this research. Projects' Annual Energy Productions, their Capacity Factors, and finally, their LCOE have been calculated. In the project Absheron, two different discount rates have been used and its results have been compared with the projects of the other regions of the Caspian Sea. Besides, the results of the Absheron Project have been compared to the Azerbaijani Government's energy policy. Besides, the results of this research, have been compared to the results of the international offshore wind farms' average Capacity Factors and LCOE results. Regions' metrological features and their impacts on the planned projects have been mentioned in the end. To do that, researches and publications about the Caspian Sea basin have been checked and analyzed. To make a better comparison, their results have been compared to the results of this research.