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High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) technology is a cornerstone of efficient Offshore Wind Farm (OWF) power transmission. This review examines the integration of HVDC technology in OWFs, considering collection and transmission aspects. The analysis is structured around four key dimensions: economic considerations, connection topologies, converter designs, and technical modeling. It begins with an in-depth economic analysis, evaluating cost-effectiveness, reliability, and market dynamics, focusing on investment, operational costs, and lifecycle expenses. Building on this foundation, the review explores various collection and transmission architectures, highlighting their technical and economical trade-offs, and evaluates power converter designs for efficiency, reliability, and offshore adaptability. Finally, advanced modeling and simulation techniques are reviewed to optimize system performance, enhance reliability, and balance computational efficiency. Throughout each of the four sections, economic and technical constraints are considered together. This helps to improve understanding of how systems can be designed in a way that meets the constraints of both fields and to enhance feasibility on both dimensions. These insights provide a holistic framework for sustainable and economically viable Offshore Wind Energy (OWE) integration.
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Additively manufactured nanoporous foam targets for economically viable inertial fusion energy
Nuclear fusion is receiving tremendous global interest due to its promise as a source of clean and abundant energy. Although scientific breakeven was recently demonstrated via inertial confinement fusion, economic breakeven has not yet been achieved in any form of fusion. A key barrier for economic viability is the high cost of fabricating the fuel containers (i.e., the targets). Here, we present a quantitative framework and apply it to generate a target manufacturing technology development roadmap to enable economically viable inertial fusion energy. We examine the impact of our recent work in nanoscale additive manufacturing (i.e., 3D printing) and identify the next steps toward economically viable fusion energy. Our analysis has implications for manufacturing technology developers, fusion power plant designers, funding agencies, and policy makers. It demonstrates that economic target manufacturing cannot be achieved by merely increasing the industrial capacity; instead, novel affordable manufacturing technologies must be developed.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2045147
- PAR ID:
- 10482344
- Publisher / Repository:
- Elsevier
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Societal Impacts
- Volume:
- 3
- Issue:
- C
- ISSN:
- 2949-6977
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 100029
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- Clean energy, inertial confinement, fusion power plant, 3D printing, target manufacturing
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socimp.2023.100029
