Wind power continues to emerge as one of Germany’s key energy sources. Offshore turbines are being engineered for ever greater capacities, which presents new challenges for energy transmission in the turbines themselves and in the offshore wind farms. As well as the technical challenges, health and safety considerations are another important factor.
Operators of offshore wind farms are increasingly designing their systems for higher voltages because of the continual rise in power demands, and also because it makes the process of transmitting the energy generated by the wind farm far more efficient. Offshore wind farms currently operate at 66 kV and are preparing for an upgrade to 132 kV. This places extremely high demands on the turbine installations as well as the associated cabling and connection equipment.