Levelized Cost of Energy Comparison Between Permanent Magnet and Superconducting Wind Generators for Various Nominal Power

Abstract

The levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of offshore wind energy conversion systems using permanent magnet and fully superconducting generators is compared. Scaling laws are used to calculate the masses and the costs of all the components, to the exception of the generators that are designed and optimized by using the finite element method. The comparisons are done for various turbine’s nominal power, ranging from 2 to 23 MW. The results show that for each generator type, there exists an optimal nominal power that minimizes the LCOE. In addition, the use of a superconducting generator could significantly lower (about 7% at 20 MW) the LCOE compared with using a permanent magnet generator.