ctws ocean energy thresher

NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC

The Washington State Ocean Energy Conference:Deep Water Wind and Ocean Energy Economy

Bremerton, WashingtonNovember 8 & 9, 2011

Ocean Renewable Energy: Offshore Wind, Wave & Tidal Power

Presented by Robert Thresher, NREL Research Fellow

National Wind Technology Center

National Renewable Energy Laboratory Innovation for Our Energy Future

Energy sources in the United States in 2009


Region 0 - 30 30 - 60 > 60

New England 100.2 136.2 250.4Mid Atlantic 298.1 179.1 92.5

S. Atlantic Bight 134.1 48.8 7.7California 4.4 10.5 573.0

Pacific Northw est 15.1 21.3 305.3Great Lakes 176.7 106.4 459.4

Gulf of Mexico 340.3 120.1 133.3Haw aii 2.3 5.5 629.6

Total 1,071.2 628.0 2,451.1

GW by Depth (m)

Assumptions:5 MW/km2

7 m/s and greater 0-50nm for shore

Most U.S. Offshore Wind Resource is in Deep Water


Wind Technology Evolution

• Land Based Technology > 2 MW; Turbine 50% Total Installation Cost• Offshore Technology > 5 MW; Turbine 25% Total Installation Cost• Land Based Turbine Size Constrained by Highway Transport • Turbine Stiffness & Dynamic Coupling Driving Design Innovation


Shallow Water Technology

Transitional Depth

Technology

Deepwater Floating

Technology

Offshore Wind Technology Development

Land-based Technology

Current Technology

Future Research on Offshore Wind Technology


Shallow Water Bottom Mounted:GE project at Arklow Banks in the Irish Sea

Photo: R. Thresher


Principle Power 2-MW Demonstration

Characteristics

Country/Sponsor: Portugal

Major Partners: Vestas, EDP

Turbine Size/Description: Vestas V-80, 2 MW wind turbine

Deployment date : September 2011

Platform Type: Three – tank semisubmersible – 6 line mooring

Site: Aguçadoura, Portugal

Water Depth 40 to 50-m

Approximate Budget: $ 25M USD

Opportunities: The PPI WindFloat semi-submersible wind system is scheduled for installation and commissioning off the Portuguese coast in Sept 2011. The installation includes a grid-connected Vestas V80 2-MW wind turbine. Testing for at least 12 months is planned and will focus on performance validation. An EU Framework 7 award increased their testing capability.


Dynamic Analysis of Wind and Wave Interactions is an Important Technical Challenge for Floating Turbine Designs

NREL Dynamic Simulation Tool: HydroDyn


Visualization of Avian Interaction Zones Windfarm Flight Zone

Rotor Zone

Strike Zone

Over-flight

Fly-thru

Fatality Risk


Avian Strike Probability Versus Turbine Size

15 Meter Diameter and 100 kW

93 Meter Diameter and 2.5MW

Altamont ScaleNext Generation Scale


Three Basic Forms of Marine Hydrokinetic (MHK) EnergyCURRENTS• Activating force flows in same direction for at least a few

hours

• Tidal, river, and ocean variants

• Conversion technology is some sort of submerged turbine

WAVES• Activating force reverses direction every 5 to 20 seconds

• Conversion technology can be floating or submerged, with a wide variety of devices still being invented and developed

OCEAN THERMAL • A heat engine operating on the temperature difference

between hot surface water and cool water at 1000 meters.

• Several possible thermodynamic cycles

• Conversion technology is on a floating platform with a long pipe to deep water


The Many Wave Energy Technologies


The Several Tidal, River and Ocean Current Technologies


Minnesota – Economic Impacts from 1000 MW of new wind development

Payments to Landowners: • $2.7 million/year Local Property Tax Revenue:• $2.8 million/yearConstruction Phase:• 1455 new jobs• $188.5 M to local economiesOperational Phase:• 232 new long-term jobs• $21.2 M/yr to local

economies

Construction Phase:• 1530 new jobs• $150.6 M to local

economiesOperational Phase:• 177 local jobs• $18.2 M/yr to local

economies

Wind energy’s economic “ripple effect”

Construction Phase = 1-2 yearsOperational Phase = 20+ years

Total economic benefit = $1.1 billion

New local jobs during construction = 2985

New local long-term jobs = 409

Direct Impacts Indirect & Induced Impacts

Totals (construction + 20yrs)


Questions?

Robert Thresher, NREL Research [email protected]

Photo courtesy of Oceanenergy

mailto:[email protected]