Offshore wind farms have recently emerged as promising renewable energy sources. For increasing distances between offshore generation and onshore distribution grid, HVDC transmission systems based on voltage source converters can be a feasible and competitive solution. This thesis presents a comprehensive evaluation of a novel integrated wind farm topology that includes the generator drive syst...

This paper presents a decision support system (DSS) for determining the optimal fleet of vessels and helicopters to support maintenance operations at offshore wind farms. This vessel fleet is used to transport maintenance technicians and spare parts to and from the wind farm, and to execute lifts of heavy parts onto the turbines. The cost of the vessel fleet constitutes a major part of the main...

OBJECTIVES To assess the physical strains of employees in the German offshore wind industry, according to job type and phase of the wind farm (under construction or operation). DESIGN Web-based cross-sectional survey. SETTING Offshore wind farm companies operating within the German exclusive economic zone. PARTICIPANTS Male workers with regular offshore commitments and at least 28 days sp...

For the first time, global ocean usable wind power is evaluated for modern offshore turbine characteristics including hub height, usable portion of the wind speed distribution and siting depth. Mean wind power increases by 30%, 69% and 73% within the tropics and northern and southern hemisphere extratropics, respectively, between hub heights of 10 m and 100 m. A turbine with a cut-out speed of ...

Wind power has expanded significantly over the past years, although reliability of wind turbine systems, especially of offshore wind turbines, has been many times unsatisfactory in the past. Wind turbine failures are equivalent to crucial financial losses. Therefore, creating and applying strategies that improve the reliability of their components is important for a successful implementation of...

[1] For the first time, global ocean usable wind power is evaluated for modern offshore turbine characteristics including hub height, usable portion of the wind speed distribution, and siting depth. Mean wind power increases by 30%, 69%, and 73% within the tropics and Northern and Southern Hemisphere extratropics, respectively, between hub heights of 10 m and 100 m. A turbine with a cut‐out spe...

Offshore wind farms constitute a new and fast growing industry all over the world. This study investigates the long term impact on harbour porpoises, Phocoena phocoena, for more than 10 years (2001–12) from the first large scale offshore wind farm in the world, Nysted Offshore Wind Farm, in the Danish western Baltic Sea (72× 2.3 MW turbines). The wind farm was brought into full operation in Dec...

[1] The seasonal cycle of the near-surface circulation off central Chile was analyzed using satellite altimetry and an oceanic model. To evaluate the role of the wind stress curl on the circulation we performed two identical simulations except for the wind-forcing: the “control run” used long-term monthly mean wind stress and the “no-curl run” used a similar wind stress field, but without curl....