Location, Location, Location: Model IDs Best Spots for Offshore Energy Projects
For Immediate Release
Researchers have developed a computational model that identifies the best combination of location and energy technologies to maximize offshore energy production, reducing the financial risk associated with investing in offshore projects. The model accounts for different types of wind and marine hydrokinetic technologies, the best location for co-siting these technologies, and the best size of the relevant technologies.
“Offshore energy technologies – such as marine hydrokinetic devices that convert the the ocean’s tides, current and waves into electricity – hold tremendous potential for producing sustainable energy at a reasonable cost,” says Anderson de Queiroz, co-author of a paper on the work and an associate professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering at North Carolina State University. “We also know that putting wind turbines and marine hydrokinetic devices in the same location makes it possible to ensure a reliable flow of energy from offshore sites.
“However, the initial cost of building these offshore sites is considerable, so it is important for utilities to know that a project is going to maximize the return on their investment,” de Queiroz says. “That’s where our work comes in.”
The researchers have developed a model called a portfolio optimization framework. If a utility is considering a range of possible locations for an offshore power facility, the model can determine not only which location is best suited for maximizing energy output, but which combination of wind and hydrokinetic technologies would be able to make the most of that location. The model demonstrated in this paper focused on the use of wind turbines and marine hydrokinetic kites.
“Kites are a subset of hydrokinetic devices that use underwater sails to spin turbines, generating electricity from the movement of the ocean,” de Queiroz says. “However, the model can be modified to account for a range of other marine hydrokinetic technologies.”
To demonstrate the potential of their portfolio optimization framework, the researchers conducted a case study focusing on coastal North Carolina. The case study drew on a wide range of data, covering variables such as windspeeds, ocean currents, the depth of each location, distance from shore, and so on.
“We found that location makes a tremendous difference,” de Queiroz says. “Some places work well for wind turbines, but not for kites; other places work well for kites, but not for turbines.
“But when you find a location that works for both turbines and kites, there are two significant benefits,” de Queiroz says. “First, the cost of energy generation goes down significantly. Second, the stability of energy production goes up – the turbines offset periods when hydrokinetic energy production goes down, and the hydrokinetic devices offset periods when wind production goes down. It really underscores the difference our model can make in terms of maximizing investment in offshore power.
“We’re open to working with the energy sector to help them explore how they might use the model to inform long-term planning decisions related to sustainability and energy security,” says de Queiroz.
The paper, “Fused Portfolio Optimization for Harnessing Marine Renewable Energy Resources,” is published open access in the journal Energy. Corresponding author of the study is Mary Maceda, a Ph.D. student at NC State. The paper was co-authored by Rob Miller, a Ph.D. student at NC State; Victor de Faria, a recent Ph.D. graduate from NC State; Matthew Bryant, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at NC State; and Chris Vermillion, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan.
This research was done with support from the North Carolina Renewable Ocean Energy Program.
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Note to Editors: The study abstract follows.
“Fused Portfolio Optimization for Harnessing Marine Renewable Energy Resources”
Authors: Mary Maceda, Rob Miller, Victor A.D. de Faria, Matthew Bryant, Anderson R. de Queiroz, North Carolina State University; Chris Vermillion, University of Michigan
Published: Dec. 15, Energy
DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.139660
Abstract: Offshore wind and marine hydrokinetic energy are underutilized energy resources. Efficiently exploiting these energy resources requires the identification of optimal deployment locations and optimal designs for offshore energy harvesting devices. These devices have the potential to be deployed in tandem such that the suite of devices consistently saturates a given power transmission system. To better understand the economic viability of harvesting marine renewable energy, a portfolio optimization is presented here. Portfolio optimization frameworks help to identify optimal deployment maps for energy-harvesting devices in a given domain and unify solutions of resource, technical performance, transmission, and cost model sub-problems into a unique and comprehensive tool. These frameworks select the energy-harvesting device designs in advance. This work proposes a portfolio optimization framework combined with optimal device design, sizing, and selection to enable a more realistic energy depiction that is beneficial to stakeholders. By maximizing power sent back to shore subject to a constraint on the levelized cost of energy, the algorithm creates an optimal mapping of devices that produces the maximum transmittable power and stabilizes portfolio variability in a cost-effective manner. Any reliably modeled off-shore energy-harvesting device can be used within this framework. In this work, wind turbines and marine hydrokinetic kites are selected as a case study considering they are leading technologies for harvesting their respective energies. Results from this case study demonstrate optimal portfolios of devices for a location off the coast of North Carolina and show the utility of fusing device design optimization with the portfolio optimization.
This post was originally published in NC State News.
