AC or DC? Economics of grid connection design for offshore wind farms

Morton, Anthony B.; Cowdroy, S.; Hill, Jesse; Halliday, M.; Nicholson, Guy

doi:10.1049/cp:20060048

Cited by 39 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…As the research involved both AC and DC cables of a number of different ratings the decision was made to allocate a cable length of 50 km. This was chosen for this study as sources cite this as the 'cut-off' point at which a cable installer should opt for DC instead of AC from a cost-benefit perspective [11]. Recently industry trends have tended towards use of HVAC for lengths greater than 50km and as such this study could be repeated for greater cable lengths in order to replicate some of the longer AC cables that are found offshore.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of offshore cable reliability metrics

Warnock¹,

McMillan²,

Pilgrim³

et al. 2017

13th IET International Conference on AC and DC Power Transmission (ACDC 2017)

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Reliable cable systems are essential for offshore wind operation. Industry trends have led to a large number of offshore cable connections being installed recently, with 11027 MW of offshore wind connected at the end of 2015 compared to just 2955 MW in 2010 [1]. Despite the increase in connections, the publically available reliability data in this area is almost non-existent. With several connections in planning of both similar and increasing lengths it is essential to better understand these metrics.A review of published reliability data was undertaken in order to populate a database which is presented in this paper. This data focusses on a number of connection types including both AC and DC connections across a number of cable ratings and configurations. From this database it is confirmed that reliability figures currently being used across the literature generally conform to those currently being experienced in the offshore wind industry. However it is established that failure rates taken from some reports are not accurate as the technology and environments these are calculated from are typically different from those used in offshore wind farm connections. This information is collated and converted into reliability metrics in order for comparisons to be made.Analysis of the cost of an outage experienced by a windfarm is also carried out in this paper. The results of which establish that the revenue lost from a cable failure could potentially be substantial. The findings in this paper would also suggest a greater risk of failure in the early life of a windfarm and as such a greater potential cost associated with this risk.It is important to have a better understanding of offshore renewable energy cable connections as the reliability of a cable has a significant impact on the Levelised Cost of Energy. With a greater understanding of the metrics investors can make more informed decisions with respect to the technology that is installed as well as the importance of the installation process itself, due diligence on subsequent OFTO asset purchases and the maintenance plans that have been outlined for the connection.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of offshore cable reliability metrics

Warnock¹,

McMillan²,

Pilgrim³

et al. 2017

13th IET International Conference on AC and DC Power Transmission (ACDC 2017)

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“…10. Some papers have focused on the economic feasibility [22]. In [14] a comparison of AC and DC transmission options is presented.…”

Section: Voltage Source Converter For Hvdc Transmission In Offshore Wmentioning

confidence: 99%

HVDC Transmission for Offshore Wind Farms

Olguin

Garcés

Bergna-Diaz

2014

Large Scale Renewable Power Generation

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Large-scale wind energy expansion is limited by factors such as the land use and the visual impact of facilities on land. Offshore wind energy can overcome the above-mentioned limitations. In addition, wind velocity is higher and more constant offshore than onshore. This chapter will present an overview of different topologies for grid integration of offshore wind farms. Special emphasis is made on the offshore grid topologies and types of power electronic converters.

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“…Distance of the OWF from the onshore substation (the main grid) 2. Nominal active power of the OWF [3,4]. According to these studies, for large and remote OWFs, the HVDC transmission sounds more interesting way to deliver the electrical power to the main grid.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%