This study aims to quantitatively analyze the impact of key variables in the economic evaluation of offshore wind farms-such as Annual Energy Production (AEP), Capital Expenditure (Capex), and Operational Expenditure (Opex)-on the Internal Rate of Ret...
This study aims to quantitatively analyze the impact of key variables in the economic evaluation of offshore wind farms-such as Annual Energy Production (AEP), Capital Expenditure (Capex), and Operational Expenditure (Opex)-on the Internal Rate of Return (IRR), and to present an empirical formula based on the results.
To achieve this, wind measurement data collected over one year using a Lidar installed in the study area was utilized to predict the Annual Energy Production (AEP) using WindPRO software. An Excel-based tool developed by the Offshore Wind Energy Research Institute at Jeonbuk National University was then employed to perform the economic feasibility assessment. The results were visualized using a 3D sensitivity analysis in MATLAB to present the impact of each variable.
Specifically, for two types of wind turbines, we performed layout and design for each scenario in the actual sea area. We then calculated the AEP using the aforementioned Lidar for direct measurement and analysis. After setting key factors for offshore wind farm economic analysis such as Capex, Opex, and LCOE along with case examples, we analyzed the changes in IRR based on variations in AEP (annual energy production) (the sensitivity coefficient of IRR to changes in CF) and RPS (generation cost, SMP+REC) (the sensitivity coefficient of IRR to changes in RPS). The goal of this research is to derive an experimentalformula for the economic feasibility analysis of offshore wind energy complexes.
Consequently, this study presents an economic analysis standard applicable in practical offshore wind farm development. This enables rapid IRR prediction using the derived formula during project planning and preliminary feasibility studies for offshore wind farm development projects. This is expected to contribute to future feasibility assessments and policy design for offshore wind projects.