OffShorePlan

In recent years a number of studies have been carried out to evaluate the offshore energy resource, although, in view of the very high cost of the experimental wind measurement at sea, these studies rarely include experimental data in the estimates, which are usually replaced by data from numerical simulations. This procedure adds uncertainty to the estimates of energy resource assessment, thereby increasing the risk of investments. According to the experience acquired in recent years, there are still a number of barriers to be overcome with regard to this technology. Infrastructure constraints related to the scarcity of services and facilities for the installation, operation and maintenance of the existing offshore wind turbines. The growth of the sector and the increase in the size of new projects of offshore wind farms in Europe, introduces a technological challenge regarding the electrical interconnection structures of these power plants, especially regarding the bidirectional management of heavily variable power flows over time, in HVDC networks. The identification of areas with high offshore renewable potential will enable national entities with a high level of competence (eg INESCTEC) to develop solutions and national companies producing wiring and anchoring materials to test new solutions in the testing zones on the Portuguese coast, thus enhancing development and export of new products and services.

With regard to technologies for the exploitation of wave energy, it is usually accepted that these have barriers of four types: technological, financial and market development, environmental and administrative, and availability of the electricity grid. Industry believes that technological barriers require a more proactive approach on the part of the technical-scientific community.

Thus, in this project, methodologies that respond to most of the constraints mentioned and that will contribute to the sector of marine renewable energies will be developed and applied to the national Portuguese coast.
This project aims to promote the implementation of systems for the use of offshore renewable energies in the Portuguese Coast. To achieve this, three main objectives were set:

Obj1: To identify the renewable energy resources in the Portuguese Coast (offshore wind and waves – mapping and corresponding validation);

Obj2: Impact of the production (var-RES) of Energy at Sea in the national electricity system (2035); Estimation of the temporal evolution of the reception capacity of the national electric grid for the production from offshore renewable sources (2035); Identification of the optimal participation of offshore wind generation in a (100%) renewable (2035) power generation system, and;

Obj3: Technical, economic and social analysis of the use of energy at sea (Hierarchy of renewable energy technologies at sea through its LCOE; Socio-economic and value chain analysis).