Jul 19 2010
ABB, a principal group engaged in power and automation technology, has succeeded in gaining an order worth $700 million from Transpower a German transmission grid operator to provide 800 MW power connectivity to link a number of offshore wind turbine farms in the DolWin1cluster, situated in the North Sea to the power grid in Germany.
ABB is planning to utilize its novel and ecofriendly HVDC Light (high-voltage direct current) transmission technology to carry the power generated from the 400 MW Borkum West II wind farm and other wind farms functioning in close proximity The offshore wind farms will be linked to an offshore HVDC converter station to be constructed for the purpose to transmit the generated electricity to an onshore HVDC facility located at Dorpen on the northwest shoreline of Germany by utilizing a specially laid underwater DC cable covering a distance of 165 km. The Dorpen converter station will consecutively feed the generated AC power to the grid at mainland.
ABB has taken full responsibility for the turnkey formulation of the system engineering; ABB is planning to indigenously manufacture semiconductors, cables and converter stations required for the project. HVDC Light transmission systems tender several environmental benefits, such as neutral electromagnetic fields, oil-free cables and compact converter stations. It is ideal for connecting remote offshore wind farms to mainland networks, surmounting distance restraints and grid checks while assuring spirited performance and negligible electrical losses.
Peter Leupp, who leads ABB’s Power Systems division as head said that offshore wind power generation helps in producing significant level of renewable energy and contributes to the efforts of reducing environmental pollution by utilizing the most advanced transmission technologies for reliable renewable energy integration with the grid.
The offshore wind farms scheduled for commissioning during 2013 is expected to prevent over three million tons of CO2 emissions per year by substituting fossil fuel-based power generation.
Source: http://www.abb.com/