As the world continues to experience problems including a lack of seafood and high energy demands, this paper provides an assessment for integrated multi-use offshore platforms (MUPs) as a step towards exploiting open seawater in a sustainable way to harvest food and energy. The paper begins with background about MUPs, including information regarding what an MUP is and why it is used. The potential energy technologies that can be involved in an offshore platform are introduced while addressing similar applications all over the world. The paper presents the state of the art of MUP structures on the light of EU-funded programs. An MUP would have a positive impact on various marine activities such as tourism, aquaculture, transport, oil and gas and leisure. However, there are concerns about the negative impact of MUPs on the marine environment and ecosystem. Building an MUP with 100% renewable energy resources is still a challenge because a large storage capacity must be considered with a well-designed control system. However, marine bio-mass would play a vital role in reducing battery size and improving power supply reliability. Direct Current (DC) systems have never been considered for offshore platforms, but they could be a better alternative as a simpler control system that requires with lower costs, has lower distribution losses, and has an increased system efficiency, so studying the feasibility of using DC systems for MUPs is required.
Questions this practice may help answer:
- What are the Offshore Multi-Use Platforms (MUP)?
- Which sectors of activity are involved in the Multi-Use Platforms?
- What are the existing structures and categories of the Multi-Use Platforms?
Implementation Context:
This study was conducted by the researchers from the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering of the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow (UK).
Aspects / Objectives:
The objective of the study was to review the proposed techniques and configurations of offshore platforms to give a complete view of the integrated offshore platforms in the EU.
Method:
The study relies on existing multi-use platforms developed through the projects funded by the European Union, in particular "The Ocean of Tomorrow" and the "Horizon 2020" programs. Based on these projects, the authors provide an overview of MUP components, structures, and design methodology.
Main Outputs / Results:
The study provides an overview and assessment of the MUP projects in the EU. It integrates information on the MUP and provides an analysis of the development and implementation of these structures. The study also highlights the challenges of MUP, mainly related to electrical issues and power quality.
Transferability:
The findings of this study are applicable to similar MUP projects.
Responsible Entity:
Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK.
Costs / Funding Source:
This research received no external funding.
Contact person:
Walid Nassar: walid-mohamady-hassan-nassar
strath.ac.uk (walid-mohamady-hassan-nassar[at]strath[dot]ac[dot]uk)