Posted on April 1, 2021
A Basque consortium believes that the future of offshore wind power lies in the design of new floating offshore substations.
The project was launched in 2020, has a budget of €6.8M for the 2020-2022 period and is funded by the Basque Government’s Hazitek Programme, with the support of the European Regional Development Fund.
Offshore, at depths above 50 metres, wind turbines as powerful as expected, require substations to collect and distribute the power generated. Aside from this increase in wind turbine power, the trend to make even larger wind farms to favour scale economy, and their locations pose certain challenges in terms of power evacuation. Therefore, alternatives in direct current (DC) are being assessed.
WIND2GRID says these substations will need to be floating, flexible, reliable, and modular, so as to adapt to different powers and requirements. Additionally, substations are exposed to the same challenges and demands as the new wind turbines and their floating platforms: new digitalized infrastructures to improve the substation’s O&M, corrosion-resistant materials that can withstand the marine environment, and the overall cost-reduction of the wind farm.
To date, there are no commercial floating substations. Thus, the market opportunity that will be created with the development of floating and fixed offshore wind power at increasing depths is paired with the lack of developers with renowned experience. This creates a unique and unmissable window of opportunity, considering the experience in the development of offshore wind power technology that we have accumulated in the Basque Country. In fact, the two sectors involved in this project, wind and marine power, bring together over 200 companies that could benefit from this new trend in the energy sector.
PROJECT GOALS
The project’s goals include the development of a new comprehensive solution that includes new concepts for floating structures that are appropriate for different locations, advanced numeric models applied to studying the hydrodynamic performance of complex structures and dynamic umbilical cables. It also seeks to research on the mooring dynamics of large structures in shallow waters, and new DC and AC electric transmission systems. It will delve into specific high-performance concretes for marine structures and hybrid coatings applied on metallic components to prevent corrosion. Finally, it aims to implement Lean Manufacturing concepts and BIM methods for large marine structures, as well as innovative systems for the repair of submarine cables to reduce O&M costs, while adapting Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality concepts for O&M optimization. In the end, the new floating substation concept that the market is waiting for will be hopefully developed.
The project is also expected to contribute to improve the benchmarking of the Basque industry in the offshore wind sector. In addition, optimal positioning of the Basque marine sector within this key market is essential for its future.
CAPABLE CLUSTER
The project is led by IDOM, which will also establish the conditions for the design and the requirements of the substation, as well as the conditions for the evacuation technology. Similarly, the engineering firm will take part in the development of the floating solution, leading the design of the topside of the substation.
NAUTILUS FLOATING SOLUTIONS, leader in the development of floating platforms for offshore wind turbines, will be responsible for the design of a new floating substation concept.
GALVANIZADOS SALA, a company devoted to surface treatments and the development of new materials, leads the work package to assess the application of new materials for offshore structures.
OGERCO develops concretes for different structures; whereas VIUDA DE SAINZ is a large construction company committed to R&D and focused on developing new sensors for concrete structures.
NAVACEL, a manufacturer of large metallic infrastructures for the offshore sector (wind and marine), leads the work package responsible for demonstrating the technical and financial feasibility of the floating substation operations for topside transportation.
PINE is a leader in electric facilities in the marine and offshore sectors, as well as in the energy and industry sectors. As a true O&M benchmark, the company coordinates the work package to improve and innovate the O&M tasks of offshore substations.
By Jake Frith
