Wind-Mal
Wind-Mal
Feasibility study of
off-shore wind farms in Malaysia
S. Mekhilef 1, A. Safari1,*, D. Chandrasegaran2
1
University of Malaya, Department of Electrical Engineering, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2
University of Malaya, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Abstract
The paper describes the current situation of wind energy across the world and specifically discusses the
offshore wind farm technology. Subsequently, wind energy potentiality and techno- economic feasibility
of offshore wind farms is investigated in Malaysia. Analysis was conducted using HOMER software to
assess the potential of wind energy along the South China Sea coastline. This study indicates the best sites
to set up offshore wind farms in Malaysia while costs associated for wind energy generation are
calculated. Also, case studies for two types of Vestas wind turbine models (V-47 and V-80) are conducted.
The analysis shows the feed-in tariff policy reduces the energy price and increases wind farms
profitability. Investment, operation and maintenance costs have been evaluated for offshore wind energy
system.
Keywords: Wind energy; offshore wind energy; Wind turbine; South China Sea; Malaysia
© Sila Science. All rights reserved.
Nomenclature
RE Renewable energy
R&D Research and development
UKM University Kebangsaan Malaysia
TNB Tenaga Nasional Berhad
WTG Wind turbine generator
O&M Operation and maintenance
NPC Net present cost
CRF Capital recovery factor
COE Cost of energy
1. Introduction
Currently, global energy demand is supplied by three main categories: fossil fuels, renewable
energy (RE) sources and nuclear fusion, however, renewable energy sources poses significant
_____________
Corresponding author: Tel.: +60-03-7967-6851; fax: +60-3-7967-5316.
E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Safari).
878 S. Mekhilef et al. / EEST Part A: Energy Science and Research 28 (2012) 877-888
advantages over other energy sources that make them as the best source of energy. One reason
that makes RE so advantageous is that they are sustainable solution to the world energy crisis
since early 1970’s. In addition, they can save great expenditures of traditional power production
and compensate the harsh environmental impacts caused by fossil fuels [1-5].
Among RE sources, wind energy is dynamic energy source that fascinated more attentions
since it is easily accessible in a wide range around the world. In spite of minor environmental
impacts of wind energy, it is considered as green energy source with no green house gas (GHG)
emissions. Intense research and development (R&D) should be allocated to find solutions and
overcome fundamental problems as well as technology enhancement [6-9].
Pursuant to worldwide development for wind energy resources, offshore wind energy facilities
have grown in recent years. Onshore wind stations are usually apart from coastal load centers and
the public electricity grid is not capable for interstate electric transmission; hence, offshore wind
stations are very practical when the offshore wind stations are adjacent to the load centers. There
are other benefits of using offshore winds since they are more vigorous, steady and stable
compare with onshore winds. Higher offshore wind energy resources are available for wind
turbine installations because offshore wind speed is generally higher over the sea and oceans than
over the land areas. The wind conditions generally determine the economic feasibility of offshore
wind energy utilization. In addition, there is no area limitation for off shore power installation
and devices [10].
In this paper, current situation of global wind energy utilization is reviewed. Potential of wind
energy, techno-economic analysis, annual energy yield and energy price for offshore wind
installations are presented. Assessments are applied to six selected sites with high potential of
harnessing off shore winds in Malaysia. Results offer promising potentials of introducing this
technology for harnessing wind in the selected sites.
Wind analysis shows that offshore winds are notably stronger than onshore wind resources
hence provide substantial amounts of energy. It is also proved that offshore wind turbines can be
easily installed due to slow increase in water depth vs. distance from shoreline, hence the benefits
of the harnessing sea wind are firmly accepted [11-13].
Offshore wind sources has higher potential of wind energy, less turbulence, steadier wind,
higher mean speed wind, more aesthetics, more options for power transmission, access to low
loaded lines, vicinity to heavy load centers, no constraints on turbine size, more economic
features due to larger machines, no limits for shipping roadway and no restriction for crane
erection.
Offshore wind power R&D first began in 1970’s in Europe and United States. Fig. 1 shows
the contribution of countries for offshore wind projects by 2010 which is totally around 11,455
MW.
Offshore wind energy systems are different from onshore installation due to several reasons.
Offshore wind turbines generate more power than onshore installations because the wind speeds
are higher and steadier. In addition, offshore wind turbine generators (WTGs) usually have larger
diameter blades and yields higher rated power.
From the other point of view, offshore wind plants are inaccessible during high wind periods
because of hazards of windy sea and high waves. Installation and maintenance costs of the
S. Mekhilef et al. / EEST Part A: Energy Science and Research 28 (2012) 877-888 879
facilities are expensive and submarine electrical transmission to the shore is a major difficulty for
the plant’s installation. Moreover, offshore environmental issues are difficult to organize and
more demanding than onshore plants. Hence, offshore wind installations require more capital
investment and involve high risks. Recently, wind power research projects are focused on study
about efficient methods of harvesting offshore wind energy and overcome the barriers to fully
exploit wind energy. The emphasis is reducing the offshore wind farm setup costs and improves
the wind turbine design. The aim is to design wind turbines specifically allocated for installation
and operation with low maintenance in offshore wind farms and conquer costly and tough current
maintenance requirements [15], [16].
particular Kuala Terengganu and Mersing have the maximum potential of wind power in the
country [20-21].
Aware of the utilization benefits of wind energy, Malaysia government conducted a
demonstration project of wind turbine installation in Terumbu Layang with energy capacity of
150 kW in 2005 [22]. Wind energy has a great prospect in tourist resort islands which are
currently using their own diesel generators. In 2007, the state government of Terengganu joint
with Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) embarked on first solar-wind-diesel hybrid power plant
project with combined capacity of 650 kW to supply Perhentian Island. The project is integrated
of 2×100kW wind turbines, 100kW solar energy and 200kW and 150kW diesel generators. The
system also comprises back up batteries with capacity of 480kWh to store up the power. The
project is considered as the first of its kind in Asia. The hybrid system has reduced power
generation costs on the island by almost 40% from the previous diesel generator system. The
project is set up for domestic use only; however, it is technically possible for the resorts to switch
to the renewable electricity from their diesel generators since there is now excess power. In
addition, Ministry of rural and regional development have set up 8 wind turbines with capacity
between 5-10kW in Sabah and Sarawak [23, 24].
4. Energy analysis
To determine the annual energy (E) yield of an offshore wind farm, there are some technical
aspects that should be appraised.
a) Offshore wind flow prediction
Predictions of wind flow for a particular site is a crucial factor to determine the feasibility of a
project. Therefore, a detailed knowledge of wind characteristics and historical data is required for
efficient planning and implementation of wind farms. These data can be sourced from
meteorological department of the locality and marine surface observation reports. Fig.3 shows the
coastline of Malaysia that faces that South China Sea. Numbers 1 to 16 were assigned to each
location. Grids 1-7 represent area covering the east peninsular Malaysia coastline that faces east
of South China Sea. Grids 8-16 represent area covering the north-west side of Borneo that forms
pall of Sarawak and Sabah coast line [25]. Sites with numerical identification of 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 and
13 are selected. These sites face the South China Sea and present a potential offshore wind
resource. The criterion for selecting these places is that during the Northeast monsoon season
wind speeds at these sites reach more than 5 m/s; however, wind speed has been marked low for
the rest of the year. The directions of the wind are from the northeast and east quadrant during the
northeast monsoon season and south and southwest during the southwest monsoon season [26].
S. Mekhilef et al. / EEST Part A: Energy Science and Research 28 (2012) 877-888 881
Also, a general survey shown in Fig. 4 indicates the water depth for the sites are less than
50m; however, in this study, the wind farms are estimated to be 20m water depth, within a
distance of 5km from the shore.
Also, the array efficiency (L) is often accessed via software programs considering the
sheltering effects of the WTGs and wind flow characteristics, so the value is assumed to be 0.9.
E = EG x N x L x E x A (3)
5. Economic analysis
HOMER software has been employed to calculate offshore wind energy costs. Total capital
costs to establish offshore wind energy systems are comprised of the following items.
Wind turbine costs include the tower, shell and electrical devices of the WTGs which mainly
depend on the size of the turbine. According to literature data CT is in the range of RM 3,750,000
to 4,500,000/MW.
Support and installation costs comprise of material, construction and installation costs.
Material cost is factored by hub height and site conditions such as water depth and climate,
meanwhile, the installation cost is a function of number of WTGs erected:
Where, (W) is the water depth and (H) stands for the wind turbine hub height.
Grid connection costs are subject to the transmission system, distance from the shore-based
station and also the distance from onshore point. A 20kV/ 150kV transformer costs around
RM42,500/MW and the additional costs of other devices are of RM500,000/MW.
CM is ties up with the overall operational and maintenance strategy employed by the plant
operator. In addition, distance from shore points and plant reliability affect the cost. It is
estimated to be RM250, 000/ MW.
The O & M cost is about 2% of total investment costs. However, total operating cost is the
sum of the annual O & M costs, total fuel cost, and annualized replacement cost minus the
annualized salvage value. For grid-connected systems, the operating cost includes the annualized
cost of grid purchases minus grid sales.
The total Net Present Cost (NPC) is the current value of the total costs minus current value of
total revenues that has earned during the system lifetime. Costs are consisting of investment,
operation and maintenance, replacement and fuel costs. In addition, emission penalties and the
prices of the power bought from the grid should be considered. Revenues include salvage value
and grid sales revenue:
where CRF is the Capital Recovery Factor, (i) is discount rate and (n) is the number of years.
Cost of Energy (COE) is average cost of the efficient generated electricity per kWh and can be
calculated as the result of the annualized cost of producing electricity divided by total efficient
electric energy production.
COE = Total annualized cost of the system/ Total electricity produced (8)
884 S. Mekhilef et al. / EEST Part A: Energy Science and Research 28 (2012) 877-888
The economic feasibility analyses are considered for two model of the wind turbines. Table3
is the technical data for Vestas V-47 and V-80 wind turbines. Investment and also O&M costs for
each wind turbine are presented in Table 4.
To assess the monthly average electric production by each wind turbine, site 2 is adopted. Fig.
5 shows the results that confirm electricity production during the Northeast monsoon season is
the highest and decreases for the rest of the year.
Wind farm capacity, costs of energy and energy generation for all the selected sites are
tabulated in Table 5. Each site is considered for using both models of wind turbines. Results
indicates that larger sized WTG produces higher energy output compared to the smaller sized
WTG, corresponding to Site 1, 4, 8 and 13. However, the variances are between the two models
S. Mekhilef et al. / EEST Part A: Energy Science and Research 28 (2012) 877-888 885
6,000
Power (kW)
4,000
2,000
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
(a)V-47
Monthly Average Electric Production
8,000
Wind
Grid
6,000
Power (kW)
4,000
2,000
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
(b)V-80
Fig. 5. Monthly average electric production for site 2: (a) V-47 (b) V-80
is less than 5%. The COE for both models of WTG in all the investigated sites is presented as
well. The results confirm that the higher rated WTGs are more competitive at approximately
33% lower against the lower rated WTGs, due to their lower energy system cost. As it shows, the
lowest cost of energy system is achieved at Site 2. Meanwhile, highest cost of energy system is
found on Site 8. The reason is differences available in wind resources for a particular site.
Net specific production results in having smaller rated WTG with higher value for all sites as
shown in Fig. 6.
Influence of the feed-in tariffs in the energy price for Site 2 using the V-80 wind turbine is
explored for the sensitivity analysis. Table 6 shows the variation in the cost of energy vs. feed-in
tariff ratio.
The analysis shows that feed-in tariff ratio of 2.38 would represent the breakeven point for the
energy system cost. Any subsequent increase in feed-in tariff ratio would be present an attractive
climate for private sectors to invest [30-32].
7. Conclusion
Malaysia which is surrounded by South China Sea has a great potential to utilize the offshore
installation of wind energy. Although there are several strategies to encourage communities
utilizing wind energy, there is no energy policy specifically approved for wind energy in
886 S. Mekhilef et al. / EEST Part A: Energy Science and Research 28 (2012) 877-888
1600
1400
1200
MWh/ MW
1000
800
600
400
200
0
1 2 3 4 8 13
Site
V-47 V-80
Malaysia due to the new-fangled characteristics of the wind energy technology in the country. In
addition, wind energy potential is not fully realized by related industries. Thus, to commercialize
wind energy utilization a comprehensive wind energy policy can boost the country among the
leaders in this field. In the presented paper, preliminary feasibility of offshore wind energy for 6
selected sites in Malaysia was conducted. Locations facing South China Sea are the best choices
for offshore wind farm implementations with the maximum potential during Northeast monsoon
season in November to February. The highest annual vector resultant wind speed of 4.1 mls is
S. Mekhilef et al. / EEST Part A: Energy Science and Research 28 (2012) 877-888 887
recorded in the East peninsular Malaysia. Results indicate that Site 2 is the best location due to
high wind resources availability. The 2 MW rated wind turbines, provides the lowest energy cost
at RM0.40. However, higher net specific production is provided by the 0.66 MW rated wind
turbine. The sensitivity analysis confirms that the feed-in tariff is a significant criterion to
determine the feasibility of offshore wind farm in Malaysia. Feed-in tariff higher than the
breakeven point, would attract private sectors to invest on this type of energy system. An
attractive policy would determine the profitability of an investment in the offshore wind farms
and encourage private sectors to invest here.
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