Critical issues in large offshore wind farm design and operation

Interest in the realization of offshore wind farms is growing even in zones where exploitation was considered unprofitable so far. For this reason, studies are needed in order to design suitable methodologies aiming to investigate economic feasibility and control strategies both in steady-state and dynamic conditions. In this work, the analysis of steady-state behaviour and investment concerns of electric system for offshore wind farms is carried out. In particular, the case of a 300-MW offshore wind farm is taken as the reference case in order to investigate issues concerning both design and operation of the electrical system of offshore wind farms.