Abstract
This paper investigates the techno-economic feasibility of integrating a desalination system to an offshore wind farm.
The first part of the paper involves a proposal for the design of a desalination system fitted inside the WindFloat Atlantic hull. Taking into account of the power, footprint, volume and weight requirements of the desalination system, the desalination capacity is chosen to be 10,000 m3/d per platform2. A 3D model of the system is also presented.
The second part of the paper focuses on the development of an economic model that gives as output the levelized cost of water (LCOW) for the studied technology. At first, a methodology to estimate capital expenditure (Capex) and operational expenditure (Opex) of an offshore desalination system with the above-mentioned characteristics is presented. Then, three locations with high wind speeds and with frequent exposure to droughts (Gran Canaria, California and South Africa) are chosen and the model is applied. Particularly interesting results are found for Gran Canaria, isolated system with favorable conditions (high electricity price, high water production cost and good offshore wind resource).
