HYDRODYNAMIC LOADS ON AN OFFSHORE WIND TURBINE IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS OF THE BLACK SEA

Abstract

In the current context of promoting the large-scale use of renewable energy, the installation of wind turbines in the offshore and onshore environments is opportune. According to statistics, in 2022 offshore wind installations generated 21 GW, respectively 22.3% of a total of 94 GW produced by all offshore and onshore wind installations. This contribution was, also, estimated to increase in the coming years. In the Romanian sector of the Black Sea, the first wind farm will be installed in four years, according to the Romanian Ministry of Energy. Therefore, in our paper, we start with a short presentation of the different support types of the offshore wind turbine. According to the specialized literature, we found that the monopile has the simplest construction and is the most used in water with a depth of less than 50m. Further, we show theoretical aspects regarding the wave parameters and kinematics, wave spectra, wave forces, and overturning moments that act on a monopile in different conditions. Based on a Black Sea dataset and working scenarios, we performed several sensitivity studies on wind turbine support dimensions, wave characteristics, wave forces, and overturning moments. Finally, the variation ranges of wave forces and overturning moments will be estimated, under the environmental conditions of a Black Sea sector for different sizes of a monopile. These are useful in the design of an offshore wind turbine.