The recent UK announcements on offshore wind construction have focused on the connecting cables between an offshore wind farm and the shore.
“British energy regulator Ofgem has awarded a consortium of Balfour Beatty and investors AMP Capital and Equitix the right to own and operate a high-voltage transmission link to a UK offshore wind farm”
Why is this important?
Wind Energy Update’s founder Tom Evans gave his view on the matter earlier today
“One of the biggest obstacles facing offshore wind construction today lies with the cables. In the case of the transmission cables, the farshore wind farms are going to be transmitting power along HVAC and HVDC cabling that has yet to be 100% proven to be the optimal solution. Costs of cable manufacturing, cable lay and connection are therefore high by in comparison to other power generation industries. The fact that Greater Gabbard, itself looking to be the world’s largest and most complex offshore wind farm ever constructed, has now received backing from Ofgem shows that the proposition offered was considered to be the most risk free – rather than the best for immediate ROI.”
Wind Energy Update recently ran an article on this very issue: Offshore wind farm cabling: a conundrum unravelling? where the overriding conclusion form ABB was
“All offshore activities are very demanding and laying cables offshore is a challenging task…We have huge respect for these challenges.”
Want the latest information on cable installation from the people doing it?
The Offshore Wind Construction & Installation Report covers all the above and more. The report is practical more than technical though for example with Cable installation
It highlights the fact it’s a big issue and gives you practical examples of things that have gone wrong/right from people who have actually done the cable installation – not theory but a practical review
If you don’t know anything about installing wind turbines but are interested in offshore wind this report is DEFINIATELY for you. The report will highlight the barriers and drivers to offshore wind, it will tell you the risks to offshore wind installations and it will allow to you learn from other peoples experiences – which you can see from the four case studies
Offshore wind installation has not been widely done – and this report is the most practical way of understanding the space. The people interviewed are not just any people; they are the leading developers and contractors in the world of offshore wind today!
( prweb )
[mappress]
Source: prweb, May 30, 2011