O&M-aware techno-economic assessment for floating offshore wind farms: A geospatial evaluation off the North Sea and the Iberian Peninsula

The paper highlights the need for more accurate techno-economic models to advance the commercialization of floating offshore wind farms. Conventional models tend to oversimplify operation and maintenance (O&M) by neglecting crucial factors such as component failure rates, metocean conditions, repair times, and the availability of vessels and ports. To address these gaps, the authors present an O&M-aware techno-economic model that incorporates these variables and applies it to site identification across the North Sea and the Iberian Peninsula. The results show that operational expenditure is a major driver of the levelised cost of energy (LCOE), ranging from 22% to 50% in the North Sea and 19% to 46% in the Iberian Peninsula.

The study further demonstrates that suitable sites vary depending on the O&M strategy employed. Preventive approaches tend to favor resource-rich areas such as northern Scotland, Norway, and Galicia, while corrective strategies are better suited to regions with milder sea conditions, including southern Scotland, the Gulf of Roses, and the Alboran Sea. A key finding is that turbine downtime, often neglected in traditional techno-economic models, emerges as a critical factor for accurate cost assessments and reliable site selection. This improved framework enables more informed investment decisions and reduces uncertainties in the deployment of floating offshore wind farms.