Offshore wind and tidal stream power plant

In this study, it will be analysed the feasibility of a hybrid offshore wind farm where both wind and tidal stream technologies are combined. The co-location of this technologies will produce more energy without increasing the size of the wind turbine. Moreover, this co-location will offer synergies of shared infrastructures that will help to reduce both capital and operational costs. With this purpose a simulation and modelling of the system in terms of generation, structural forces, integration to the grid and economics will been done. Firstly, we will need to evaluate the current technologies in order to evaluate in which conditions the combination of this technologies can be more profitable in an energetic and in an economic point of view. For this reason, it was decided to locate our plant at the north of the Island of Anglesey, in United Kingdom, due to its convenient wind and tidal resources for both technologies. Furthermore, the government of UK offers strike prices for the production of renewable energy, which will be beneficial for our farm. The election of thewind and tidal stream turbinesand a proper structurewill be determinant for the farm will be determinant for the success of our plant. These turbines need to optimize the energy in our location. Moreover, the idea is to use the same structure, with some variations, that would be needed in the case of the installation of just the offshore wind turbine. So, the tidal turbine must be able to adapt to this structure.Once that the system is defined, a 3D structural simulation will be done in order to evaluate if the whole system supports all the loads that act over the structure following the present standards. This simulation will be done for the case with the implementation of the tidal stream turbine and for the case were we just have the wind turbine. The main loads that act over the structure are the aerodynamic and hydrodynamic loads, they will be calculated to have an accurate structural analysis. Furthermore, the natural frequency of the structure will be studied to prevent possible damages.After the preliminary wind and tidal analysis for selecting the location, an accurate study will be done in order to obtain the wind and tidal resources. In the case of wind we will use both theoretical and real data in order to obtain the most accurate production. In the case of the tidal resources, the dynamic components of the currents will be simulate with Matlab. After knowing the resources, we will need to optimize the location of the turbines to reduce possible wake losses. Then, we will study the energy production for the selected turbines in our location.Finally, an economic analysis will be done in order to evaluate thefeasibility of the project and how the implementation of the tidal stream turbine affects to the LCOE and to the outcome of the plant throughout its lifetim