Page 10 - AsiaElec Week 25 2021

AsiaElec RENEWABLES AsiaElec

BW Ideol, Hitachi ABB to develop

offshore floating substation design

JAPAN NORWEGIAN offshore wind developer BW wind auction, with a group led by Toda Corpo-
Ideol has signed a deal with transmission spe- ration offering to build a 16.8-MW floating wind
cialist Hitachi ABB Power Grids to construct project.
scalable floating offshore substations to support Japan plans to award 10 GW of offshore wind
large offshore wind farms. capacity by 2030, with 1 GW per year of tenders.
A key barrier to building grid-scale off- The two companies said they had worked
shore wind farms is connecting the turbines to closely together for several years to co-cre-
national grids. ate a standardised and modular solution that
Floating offshore substations offer a solution addresses market requirements and the unique
to this and will become an essential part of off- demands of operating in the most challenging
shore wind farm infrastructure, the two compa- environmental and seabed conditions.
nies said. “We are accelerating the delivery of a mar-
Power is transmitted by cable from each wind ket-ready floating substation offering and solu-
turbine to the offshore substation, where it is tion via this unique collaboration,” says Paul de
stepped up to a higher voltage and transferred la Guérivière, chief executive officer of BW Ideol.
safely and reliably to the onshore power grid. “It brings together two market and tech-
Hitachi ABB Power Grids is to provide mod- nology leaders to create a standardised and
ular, scalable, compact substation packages for scalable solution for all floating offshore wind
installation at BW Ideol’s shallow-draft floating power requirements. Supported by the solid
platforms. offshore experience of our strategic investor
Floating offshore wind is the next frontier BW Offshore, the collaboration will be able to
in offshore wind power, with installed capacity deliver fully integrated technical and financial
forecast to grow from 66 MW in 2019 to at least solutions.”
6.2 GW in 2030, according to the Global Wind “We are delighted to be partnering BW Ideol
Energy Council (GWEC). to provide a single solution that helps offshore
Europe, Asia and North America are wind power developers and independent power
expected to the key markets for deep-water, off- producers enter deeper waters,” says Alfredo
shore resources. Parres, head of renewables at Hitachi ABB Power
The new technology will have to play a key Grids.
role in reducing the cost of floating offshore “Our pioneering modular, scalable substa-
wind, which is currently the most expensive tions use proven technologies to make possible
form of renewable generating technology. this leap into floating renewable energy.”
For example, the Japanese government With BW Ideol’s unique shallow draft solu-
estimates that current capex costs of floating tion, the floating substations will also be able to
offshore can be as high as $10mn per MW but be implemented with bottom-fixed wind farms
could be commercially feasible if brought down to mitigate challenging seabed conditions and/
to $4mn per MW, compared with grounded or challenging offshore installation operations.
offshore capex costs of $2-3mn per MW and an The substations will comprise transformers,
average Asia-Pacific onshore wind capex cost of switchgear and other high-voltage products spe-
$1.5mn per MW by 2030. cially developed by Hitachi ABB Power Grids for
Tokyo recently held its first floating offshore floating offshore platforms.™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 25 23•June•2021