A practical decision making on design of fixed offshore wind turbine support structure considering socio-economic impact

Abstract

Wind energy is considered one of the most promising alternative energy sources against the conventional fossil fuels. However, the deployment of these structures in deep-water for better power production is considered as a complex task. This also has raised the issue regarding selection of appropriate support structures for various sea conditions by considering environmental impact and carbon footprint. This paper considers a jacket like support structure as a case study for an intermediate water depth (50m). The jacket is considered to be located in North of Dutch Sea, and 100-extreme wave is applied as load condition. Here, the presented methodology provides an insight towards environmental/social impact made by the optimized designs in comparison with reference design.