Shallow Water Offshore Wind Optimization for the Great Lakes (DE-FOA-0000415) Final Report: A Conceptual Design for Wind Energy in the Great Lakes
- Freshwater Wind I, LLC, Youngstown, OH (United States)
- Stanley White Engineering LLC, Noank, CT (United States)
The primary objective of the project was to develop a innovative Gravity Base Foundation (GBF) concepts, including fabrication yards, launching systems and installation equipment, for a 500MW utility scale project in the Great Lakes (Lake Erie). The goal was to lower the LCOE by 25%. The project was the first to investigate an offshore wind project in the Great Lakes and it has furthered the body of knowledge for foundations and installation methods within Lake Erie. The project collected historical geotechnical information for Lake Erie and also used recently obtained data from the LEEDCo Icebreaker Project (FOA DE-EE0005989) geotechnical program to develop the conceptual designs. Using these data-sets, the project developed design wind and wave conditions from actual buoy data in order to develop a concept that would de-risk a project using a GBF. These wind and wave conditions were then utilized to create reference designs for various foundations specific to installation in Lake Erie. A project partner on the project (Weeks Marine) provided input for construction and costing the GBF fabrication and installation. By having a marine contractor with experience with large marine projects as part of the team provides credibility to the LCOE developed by NREL. NREL then utilized the design and construction costing information as part of the LCOE model. The report summarizes the findings of the project; Developed a cost model and “baseline” LCOE; Documented Site Conditions within Lake Erie; Developed Fabrication, Installation and Foundations Innovative Concept Designs; Evaluated LCOE Impact of Innovations; Developed Assembly line “Rail System” for GBF Construction and Staging; Developed Transit-Inspired Foundation Designs which incorporated: Semi-Floating Transit with Supplemental Pontoons Barge mounted Winch System; Developed GBF with “Penetration Skirt”; Developed Integrated GBF with Turbine Tower; Developed Turbine, Plant Layout and O&M Strategies. The report details lowering LCOE by 22.3% and identified additional strategies that could further lower LCOE when building an utility scale wind farm in the Great Lakes.
- Research Organization:
- Freshwater Wind I, LLC, Youngstown, OH (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
- Contributing Organization:
- Ocean and Coastal Consultants, Inc.; National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL); URS Corporation; Weeks Marine, Inc.; Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation
- DOE Contract Number:
- EE0005488
- OSTI ID:
- 1121635
- Report Number(s):
- FreshwaterWindFinalReport
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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