Offshore Wind in Iceland: Wind Resource Assessment in Faxaflói Bay
Author: Marie Lovise Ve
Advisor: Laurentiu Anton
Published in: Skemman (Library of Research Publications in Iceland)
Accepted on: June 20, 2020
Abstract
As the world demand for electricity increases, power producers need to find ways to meet this demand in a sustainable and renewable manner. Iceland’s electricity production is primarily from renewable resources such as hydropower and geothermal power, with an increased interest in wind in recent years. Electricity from a wind farm works well in conjunction with hydroelectricity and is more easily expandable than a geothermal power plant post construction. This thesis is a continuation of a previous project where optimal areas for offshore wind around Iceland were determined. This thesis builds a case study for an offshore wind farm in the Faxaflói bay, north of Reykjavík, by gathering cost data, using a software called WAsP to create a wind resource, and determine the LCOE of the project.
Two different turbines were selected and compared. For a 200 MW wind farm made up by 4 MW turbines, the lowest LCOE calculated was 61.80 €/MWh. After modeling the resource, selecting the equipment and calculating the LCOE, two additional methods were used to validate the cost estimates used in the first LCOE calculation. Results show that cost estimations for the same wind farm can vary significantly depending on the method used, which highlights the uncertainty inherent in producing reliable cost estimates for a wind farm with limited data. In the discussion, multiple items are mentioned that once improved upon, would yield a more accurate analysis. Despite the uncertainties present in this work, the results indicate favorable conditions for a growing wind industry in Iceland.
