Purpose As wind power generation increases globally, there will be a substantial number of wind turbines that need to be decommissioned in the coming years. It is crucial for wind farm developers to design safe and cost-effective decommissioning plans and procedures for assets before they reach the end of their useful life. Adequate financial provisions for decommissioning operations are essential, not only for wind farm owners but also for national governments. Economic analysis approaches and cost estimation models therefore need to be accurate and computationally efficient. Thus, this paper aims to develop an economic assessment framework for decommissioning of offshore wind farms using a cost breakdown structure (CBS) approach. Methods In the development of the models, all the cost elements and their key influencing factors are identified from literature and expert interviews. Similar activities within the decommissioning process are aggregated to form four cost groups including: planning and regulatory approval, execution, logistics and waste management, and post-decommissioning. Some mathematical models are proposed to estimate the costs associated with decommissioning activities as well as to identify the most critical cost drivers in each activity group. The proposed models incorporate all cost parameters involved in each decommissioning phase for more robust cost assessment. Results and discussion A case study of a 500 MW baseline offshore wind farm is proposed to illustrate the models’ applicability. The results show that the removal of wind turbines and foundation structures is the most costly and lengthy stage of the decommissioning process due to many requirements involved in carrying out the operations. Although inherent uncertainties are taken into account, cost estimates can be easily updated when new information becomes available. Additionally, further decommissioning cost elements can be captured allowing for sensitivity analysis to be easily performed. Conclusions Using the CBS approach, cost drivers can be clearly identified, revealing critical areas that require attention for each unique offshore wind decommissioning project. The CBS approach promotes adequate management and optimisation of identified key cost drivers, which will enable all stakeholders involved in offshore wind farm decommissioning projects to achieve cost reduction and optimal schedule, especially for safety-critical tasks.

中文翻译：

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使用成本分解结构的海上风电场退役经济评估框架

目的随着全球风力发电量的增加，未来几年将有大量风力涡轮机需要退役。对于风电场开发商来说，在资产达到使用寿命结束之前为其设计安全且具有成本效益的退役计划和程序至关重要。为退役操作提供充足的财政拨款是必不可少的，不仅对风电场所有者而且对国家政府而言都是如此。因此，经济分析方法和成本估算模型需要准确且计算效率高。因此，本文旨在使用成本分解结构 (CBS) 方法开发用于海上风电场退役的经济评估框架。方法 在模型的开发中，所有成本要素及其关键影响因素均通过文献和专家访谈确定。退役过程中的类似活动汇总形成四个成本组，包括：规划和监管批准、执行、物流和废物管理以及退役后。提出了一些数学模型来估计与退役活动相关的成本，并确定每个活动组中最关键的成本驱动因素。提议的模型结合了每个退役阶段涉及的所有成本参数，以进行更可靠的成本评估。结果与讨论 提出了一个 500 兆瓦基线海上风电场的案例研究来说明模型的适用性。结果表明，由于执行操作涉及许多要求，拆除风力涡轮机和基础结构是退役过程中成本最高、时间最长的阶段。尽管考虑了固有的不确定性，但当新信息可用时，可以轻松更新成本估算。此外，还可以捕获进一步的退役成本要素，从而可以轻松执行敏感性分析。结论 使用 CBS 方法，可以清楚地识别成本驱动因素，揭示每个独特的海上风电退役项目需要注意的关键领域。CBS 方法促进对已确定的关键成本驱动因素的充分管理和优化，