Reducing Operational Costs of Offshore HVDC Energy Export Systems Through Optimized Maintenance
For the grid connection of offshore wind farms today, in many cases a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) connection to the shore is implemented. The scheduled maintenance of the offshore and onshore HVDC stations makes up a significant part of the operational costs of the connected wind farms. The m...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-03-01
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| Series: | Energies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/5/1146 |
| _version_ | 1811187810107916288 |
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| author | Jan Frederick Unnewehr Hans-Peter Waldl Thomas Pahlke Iván Herráez Anke Weidlich |
| author_facet | Jan Frederick Unnewehr Hans-Peter Waldl Thomas Pahlke Iván Herráez Anke Weidlich |
| author_sort | Jan Frederick Unnewehr |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | For the grid connection of offshore wind farms today, in many cases a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) connection to the shore is implemented. The scheduled maintenance of the offshore and onshore HVDC stations makes up a significant part of the operational costs of the connected wind farms. The main factor for the maintenance cost is the lost income from the missing energy yield (indirect maintenance costs). In this study, we show an in-depth analysis of the used components, maintenance cycles, maintenance work for the on- and offshore station, and the risks assigned in prolonging the maintenance cycle of the modular multilevel converter (MMC). In addition, we investigate the potential to shift the start date of the maintenance work, based on a forecast of the energy generation. Our findings indicate that an optimized maintenance design with respect to the maintenance behavior of an HVDC energy export system can decrease the maintenance-related energy losses (indirect maintenance costs) for an offshore wind farm to almost one half. It was also shown that direct maintenance costs for the MMC (staff costs) have small effect on the total maintenance costs. This can be explained by the fact that the additional costs for maintenance staff are two orders of magnitude lower than the revenue losses during maintenance. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T14:08:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1146d6835d2349938d0dc75017f61004 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T14:08:46Z |
| publishDate | 2020-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-1146d6835d2349938d0dc75017f610042022-12-22T04:19:46ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732020-03-01135114610.3390/en13051146en13051146Reducing Operational Costs of Offshore HVDC Energy Export Systems Through Optimized MaintenanceJan Frederick Unnewehr0Hans-Peter Waldl1Thomas Pahlke2Iván Herráez3Anke Weidlich4Department of Sustainable Systems Engineering, University of Freiburg, Emmy-Noether-Strasse 2, 79110 Freiburg, GermanyOverspeed GmbH & CO. KG, Im Technologiepark 4, 26129 Oldenburg, GermanyOverspeed GmbH & CO. KG, Im Technologiepark 4, 26129 Oldenburg, GermanyUniversity of Applied Science Emden/Leer, Constantiaplatz 4, 26723 Emden, GermanyDepartment of Sustainable Systems Engineering, University of Freiburg, Emmy-Noether-Strasse 2, 79110 Freiburg, GermanyFor the grid connection of offshore wind farms today, in many cases a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) connection to the shore is implemented. The scheduled maintenance of the offshore and onshore HVDC stations makes up a significant part of the operational costs of the connected wind farms. The main factor for the maintenance cost is the lost income from the missing energy yield (indirect maintenance costs). In this study, we show an in-depth analysis of the used components, maintenance cycles, maintenance work for the on- and offshore station, and the risks assigned in prolonging the maintenance cycle of the modular multilevel converter (MMC). In addition, we investigate the potential to shift the start date of the maintenance work, based on a forecast of the energy generation. Our findings indicate that an optimized maintenance design with respect to the maintenance behavior of an HVDC energy export system can decrease the maintenance-related energy losses (indirect maintenance costs) for an offshore wind farm to almost one half. It was also shown that direct maintenance costs for the MMC (staff costs) have small effect on the total maintenance costs. This can be explained by the fact that the additional costs for maintenance staff are two orders of magnitude lower than the revenue losses during maintenance.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/5/1146offshore wind energytransmission systemhvdcvoltage source converter (vsc)maintenancemissing energy export |
| spellingShingle | Jan Frederick Unnewehr Hans-Peter Waldl Thomas Pahlke Iván Herráez Anke Weidlich Reducing Operational Costs of Offshore HVDC Energy Export Systems Through Optimized Maintenance Energies offshore wind energy transmission system hvdc voltage source converter (vsc) maintenance missing energy export |
| title | Reducing Operational Costs of Offshore HVDC Energy Export Systems Through Optimized Maintenance |
| title_full | Reducing Operational Costs of Offshore HVDC Energy Export Systems Through Optimized Maintenance |
| title_fullStr | Reducing Operational Costs of Offshore HVDC Energy Export Systems Through Optimized Maintenance |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reducing Operational Costs of Offshore HVDC Energy Export Systems Through Optimized Maintenance |
| title_short | Reducing Operational Costs of Offshore HVDC Energy Export Systems Through Optimized Maintenance |
| title_sort | reducing operational costs of offshore hvdc energy export systems through optimized maintenance |
| topic | offshore wind energy transmission system hvdc voltage source converter (vsc) maintenance missing energy export |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/5/1146 |
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