Development of a Genetic Algorithm Code for the Design of Cylindrical Buoyancy Bodies for Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Substructures

Abstract

The Levelized Cost of Energy for floating offshore wind must decrease significantly to be competitive with fixed offshore wind projects or even with onshore wind projects. This study focuses on the design optimization of cylindrical buoyancy bodies for floating substructures of offshore wind turbines. The presented work is based on a previously studied buoyancy body design that allows an efficient manufacturing process and integration into different substructures. In this study, an optimization framework based on genetic algorithm is developed to parameterize the buoyancy body’s geometry and optimize its design in terms of cost, considering loads acting on the structure as well as manufacturing and floater specific dimension restrictions. The implementation of the optimization process is detailed, and tested for a given study case. Two structurally different genetic algorithms are considered in order to compare the results obtained and asses the performance of the presented optimization framework.

Thermal Characterization and Thermal Effect Assessment of Biofouling around a Dynamic Submarine Electrical Cable

“…For example, a turbine with a wind speed of 24 km/h can generate twice as much energy as a turbine with a wind speed of 19 km/h [2]. By increasing the distance to the coast the water depth increases and FOWT are expected to fulfill these requirements for medium (>60 m) [3] or deep water depth (>150 m). Other benefits of installing FOWT over fixed-offshore wind farms include less visual disturbance, noise avoidance (considering the propagation in water of the low frequencies on large distances, lower installation costs, no wind turbine size restrictions, and the FOWT is more environmentally friendly [5].…”