Risk-informed integrated design optimization for offshore wind farm electrical systems

The present paper develops and presents a risk-informed framework for the design of electrical systems of offshore wind farms. The framework provides a consistent theoretical and methodical basis for the treatment of uncertainties affecting service life performances and accounts for both the direct and indirect consequences related to system failure events. The risk of electrical systems is represented through a probabilistic systems modeling approach in which the states (direct failure, available, and unavailable) of the components and the resulting consequences are duly accounted for. The paper further proposes a risk-informed design optimization framework for offshore wind farm electrical systems (collection and transmission systems). Two risk indicators, the scenario-based net present value, and the robustness index, are formulated and quantified to support decision-making. The proposed framework and associated methods are illustrated through an application example considering an OWF comprised of 57 10MW wind turbines with HVAC transmission.