FEASIBILITY STUDY ON PREREQUISITES AND SPECIFICS OF FLOATING WIND FARMS DEPLOYMENT IN THE BULGARIAN OPEN SHELF

Abstract

Following the EC directives and corresponding National regulations under approval, the possibilities for deployment of marine energy conversion farms have been considered, with a focus on the floating wind generators as one of the most promising applications and advantages. The specifics of local climate, hydrology and geography along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast have been analyzed, based on long-term surveys, and three potential areas of deployment were recommended, keeping in mind restrictions imposed by the Natura 2000 network of nature protection areas as well as extensive marine traffic and comparatively high urbanization of coastline. Various floating wind generator solutions have been compared from the view point of design, construction, installation, operation and maintenance. The WindFloat semi-submersible design that has already been employed in many European projects is recommended as a favorable design. An assessment of the impact on the local economy as well as on the local communities has been made and optimal capacity of the wind energy park is proposed.