Impact of operations and maintenance on the energy production of floating offshore wind farms across the North Sea and the Iberian Peninsula

This paper investigates how operation and maintenance (O&M) factors influence energy production and optimal deployment sites for floating offshore wind farms (FOWs) in the North Sea and the Iberian Peninsula. The geospatial analysis accounts for reliability, maintainability, accessibility, and availability, assessing their effects on overall energy output. Results show that O&M considerations significantly impact both the quantity of energy produced and the identification of suitable deployment locations. In the North Sea, promising sites are found in regions with lower wind resources but shorter turbine downtime, such as Denmark, Germany, and southern Scotland. In the Iberian Peninsula, areas with high wind potential, like the northwest Spanish and Portuguese coasts, may be less favorable than the less windy Mediterranean regions due to lower maintainability.

The study also highlights the importance of vessel operational limits for major repairs. Increasing the maximum significant wave height for major repairs from 1.5 m to 2 m leads to an average capacity factor increase of 2.54% across ScotWind farms and over 6% along the northwest Iberian coast. These findings underscore that O&M factors—not just wind resources, are critical for accurate site selection and optimal energy production for future FOW deployments.