MacArtney has announced that leading tidal power array developer and supplier, Andritz Hydro Hammerfest, has recently taken delivery of a MacArtney Medium Voltage Inline Termination.
Connecting tidal power to the grid with Andritz Hydro Hammerfest
Due to the link with the lunar cycle, tidal currents can be predicted in advance and with stable energy flow and fixed maintenance windows, there are reasons to believe that tidal power will become a significant part of the future renewable energy mix.
One of the frontrunners in the race to effectively harness the power generated by tidal currents is Andritz Hydro Hammerfest. In 2011, Andritz Hydro Hammerfest installed a 1MW tidal power turbine, named HS1000, at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) located near the Orkney Islands, UK. After overseeing a positive initial testing period, the tidal turbine is now effectively producing electrical power.
Optimising turbine to grid connectivity
All power generated by the HS1000 turbine is taken to shore by means of a 11 kV subsea electrical and fibre optical export cable. Fully installed and tested by MacArtney offshore technicians, a MacArtney Inline Termination is deployed to enable connectivity between the subsea export cable and the turbine, hereby facilitating the flow of electricity to the onshore grid.
MacArtney Medium Voltage Inline Terminations
MacArtney Medium Voltage Inline Terminations are engineered to make offshore inline connections faster, easier and more effective. Cables can be terminated on site or ahead of cable laying and the actual mechanical connection of the two halves takes less than two hours, making it a good solution for applications with limited time windows, such as tidal energy units. The short connection time also means that valuable ship and downtime is reduced.
Proven and dependable, MacArtney Medium Voltage Inline Termination solutions are often used to connect dynamic cables from offshore renewable wind, tidal and wave energy converters to static export cables. Moreover, they are widely used to interconnect subsea units.
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Press release, September 11, 2013; Image: MACARTNEY