Offshore cost of energy for DFIG PRC turbines vs. PMG FRC turbines

In order to bring the Cost of Energy (CoE) from offshore wind in line with traditional energy generation forms, turbine types that produce the lowest CoE must be chosen. Modern wind turbines vary greatly in their drive train configurations. With the variety of options available it can be difficult to determine which type is most suitable for offshore applications. A large percentage of modern drive trains consist of either doubly fed induction generators with partially rated converters or permanent magnet generators with fully rated converters. These configurations were the focus of this empirical CoE comparison. The turbine populations from which CoE inputs were drawn for this comparison contained ~2,600 turbines. The findings from this comparison show that, for a hypothetical 100 turbine site 40km offshore, the PMG FRC turbine has a CoE that is £2.31/MWh lower than that of a DFIG PRC turbine.