Economic analysis of an integrated generator-rectifier system for offshore wind farms

The existing permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) requires a power electronics (PE) converter that processes the wind turbine's (WT) rated power. A proposed integrated generator-rectifier system that requires 40 % of the WT rated power to be processed by the active rectifier shows an increase in efficiency and reliability, while decreasing the overall system mass and PE costs. The objective of this thesis is to quantify the benefits of incorporating the proposed integrated generator-rectifier system on offshore wind farms by carrying out a comparative techno-economic analysis with respect to the existing design. This techno-economic analysis evaluates the annual energy production and cost components of a single WT and also its extension to an offshore wind farm. A probabilistic model evaluates the uncertainty impacts in the operations and maintenance O&M costs. The efficiency and availability improvements lead to up to 7 % increase in capacity factor, which directly impacts the annual energy production. The marked improvements in reliability lead to 11 % reduction in O&M costs. Consequently, the levelized cost of energy decreases by up to 7 % with respect to the existing design. The techno-economic analysis presented in this thesis provides the basis for a new reference design. In addition, we perform the comparative economic analysis of a wind farm without an offshore substation (OSS) with respect to a wind farm without OSS, both with the incorporation of the proposed integrated generator-rectifier.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Electrical & Computer Engr

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Mulas Hernando, Daniel

Contributors dc:contributor

• Sauer, Peter W

• techno-economic analysis
• PMSG costs
• power electronics costs
• operations and maintenance costs
• LCOE
• offshore wind

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2022 Daniel Mulas Hernando

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/115472

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F115472