Offshore wind turbine operations and maintenance: A state-of-the-art review

Abstract

Operations and maintenance of offshore wind turbines (OWT) play an important role in the development of offshore wind farms. Compared with operations, maintenance is a critical element in the levelized cost of energy, given the practical constraints imposed by offshore operations and the relatively high costs. The effects of maintenance on the life cycle of an offshore wind farm have high degrees of complexity and uncertainty. The selection of maintenance strategies influences the overall efficiency, the profit margin, and the safety and sustainability of offshore wind farms. For an offshore wind project, after a maintenance strategy is selected, a schedule planning will be considered which is an optimization problem. Onsite maintenance will involve complex marine operations whose efficiency and safety depend on practical factors. Meanwhile, negative environmental impacts due to offshore maintenance deserve attention. To address these aspects, this paper reviews the state-of-the-art research on OWT maintenance covering strategy selection, schedule optimization, onsite operations, repair, assessment criteria, recycling, and environmental concerns. A large number of methods are summarized and compared. Limitations in research and shortcomings of industrial development in OWT operations and maintenance are revealed. Finally, promising areas are identified with regard to future studies of maintenance strategies.