IM-POWER · A numerical integrated model for the power output of floating offshore wind farms that are fully grid-connected during sea storms

The implementation of the energy policy to clean our energy system will lead to massive offshore wind power installations in the coming decades, thus causing the electricity grid balance to increasingly rely on intermittent renewable energy sources. Such dependence, and the increased electrification, leaves power grids vulnerable to the risk of negative impacts of climate-induced weather extremes. Nevertheless, the effects of extreme events on the reliability of electricity distribution systems remain an open question, and to address this point, IM-POWER is proposed here. The Action aims to develop a numerical integrated model to predict the power generation performance of emerging offshore wind technologies during storm conditions and anticipate their impact on power grids. IM-POWER will set a comprehensive numerical strategy to assess the power output of offshore wind farms that comprise wind turbines installed on floating platforms. High-fidelity modeling techniques for simulating marine structures and harsh marine conditions – involving wind effects, floating foundations, and power generators – will be combined. Three representative configurations of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) will be arrayed into wind farms. To provide relevance to the layouts, their design will be tackled in cooperation with the world-leading project developer Hexicon AB (Sweden). Therefore, the computational tool will be used to investigate the power output of the FOWTs by assessing their transient response when the peak of storms (usually lasting three or four hours) hits the wind farm. Owing to the effort required by the numerical procedure, hardware acceleration provided by the National Supercomputer Centre (Sweden) will be used to perform the calculations. The knowledge gained from the power production variability during storms using IM-POWER, for different platform configurations, will permeate FOWT design and optimization procedures, and support power grid upgrades.