Framework to assess system risks associated with offshore wind farms in northern context

Europe is the world leader in offshore wind energy. Due to the European Union's renewable energy and climate goals and national legislation the offshore wind sector will develop strongly in coming years in Europe. In northern sea areas there are special conditions that regulate the risks in design and deployment decisions for wind energy production. Moreover, in the current floating offshore wind mill design concepts system risks may also vary due to multiple influences of numerous risk factors in comparison to onshore wind mills. The focus in this paper is on system risks of offshore wind farms. It aims to bring a systematic risk management approach into perspective to support wind farm design and deployment process under challenging Nordic conditions. This approach is based on the system lifecycle model, risk influence factors, and generic risk management framework. The overall view of the risks inherent in a wind farm project is presented, but the perspective in this paper is limited to risks affecting system availability and system safety of offshore wind farm