Optimizing the Design Parameters of Offshore Wind Power Plants for Power Supply to Offshore Platforms

The matters of power supply to oil and gas production platforms on the shelf located at a considerable distance from the coast are extremely topical and important in nature. The article addresses the problem of justifying the economic efficiency of replacing a part of the gas turbine units supplying power to the currently designed oil and gas production platform in the Northern Caspian Sea (an alternative version of developing the Yu.S. Kuvykin field with a total consumption power of 16.2 MW) with several offshore wind turbines in combination with an energy storage device in the form of lithium-ion batteries. The loads on the wind power plants are determined, and the parameters of the wind turbine pile foundations have been calculated taking into account the requirements of new regulatory documents. It has been determined that the most effective way of constructing a foundation is to use piles with the maximal driving depth of no more than 35 m and provide a reinforced supporting part for the wind turbines with a distance between four piles of 12 m. Preliminary evaluations of aggregated economic indicators for these solutions have shown a significant economic gain from replacing two gas turbine units with a wind power plant comprising five wind turbines in combination with lithium-ion batteries.