Swiss company ABB has won a contract from Dudgeon Offshore Wind, a company owned by Statoil and Statkraft, for the supply of a submarine alternating current power cable system for a new wind farm in the UK.
Under the $55m contract, ABB will design and deliver two 132kV three-core AC submarine cables measuring 42km each connecting the project’s offshore substation to the onshore cables at Weybourne Hope.
The company will manufacture the submarine cables at its high-voltage cable factory in Karlskrona, Sweden and expects to begin delivery in 2016.
Located on a 35km² site, 32km off the coast of the seaside town of Cromer in North Norfolk, the 400MW project will generate enough electricity to power more than 400,000 UK homes annually and curb CO2 emissions by 19 million tonnes over its 25-year lifetime.
The project will supply the output to onshore through a seabed cable at Weybourne Hope, and then an underground cable being built will carry the electricity to Necton, where a substation will transmit it to the grid.
ABB Power Systems division head Claudio Facchin said, “Offshore wind is a growing renewable energy resource, with Europe accounting for around 70% of new offshore wind generation capacity.
“Transporting electricity from offshore wind farms to the shore and then integrating it into the grid for supply to consumers are key elements.”
In January 2014, Siemens had secured contracts worth £516m from Statoil for the engineering, procurement, assembly and offshore commissioning of 67 wind turbine generators of 6MW each as well as provide services for the project.
Pursuant to the contract, Siemens will develop the project’s design work for foundations and electrical infrastructure, with the first batch of turbines set to be ready for installation by January 2017.
In addition to this, Siemens will carry out operations and maintenance of the generators for the first two years after the installation is completed, after which it will provide technicians and other agreed services for three years.
Execution of the project, which was acquired by Statoil (70%) and Statkraft (30%) from Warwick Energy in October 2012, is subject to final investment decision in the third quarter of 2014.
