This paper defines a methodology for the economic feasibility analysis of a floating offshore wind farm composed of tensioned leg platforms, which are part of the EU ARCWIND research project. In this context, the phases and subphases of its life-cycle process are considered to deal with aspects such as bathymetry, characteristics of the platforms, distance from the farm to shore, distance from the farm to port and offshore wind speed. All the costs and other external parameters such as capital cost, electric tariff, interest rate, percentage of financing and corporate tax have been analysed to calculate the internal rate of return, net present value, discounted pay-back period and levelized cost of energy of the farm. This work studies a farm composed of TLP offshore wind platforms designed by CENTEC and located at Ribadeo in Spain. Results indicate the costs and the economic feasibility of this platform for deep waters. They indicate that the platform is economically feasible for the location selected.

The aim of this chapter is to examine the offshore wind as a pillar for a new sustainable business. In this context, the chapter firstly analyses the significance of renewable energies. Secondly, it analyses several types of offshore renewable energies, the state of offshore wind energy in Europe, and the projections of offshore wind in the world. Thirdly, it presents an overview of the levelized cost of energy (LCOE), comparing its value for different energy technologies. Moreover, a new concept, called SCOE, is introduced to incorporates society in the LCOE equation. Finally, conclusions talk about the importance of choosing a sustainable way of generating electricity in our future.