International partnership develops floating offshore substation

Challenge

Floating offshore transformer stations (FOSS) have become a key topic in relation to offshore wind farms in recent years.

Traditional offshore wind farms are installed on the seabed, but at depths of about 60 meters or more, this installation method becomes challenging and expensive. However, 80 percent of the world's offshore wind resources are located in areas with depths greater than 60 meters, making it necessary to find an alternative solution, such as a floating foundation for offshore transformer stations.

So far, floating offshore transformer stations have not been used or produced, apart from a small transformer station used in a project in Japan. There is therefore a need to develop and produce a floating transformer station that can be used in locations where it has not been possible to generate wind energy due to deeper sea levels.

Solution

The FOSS project was launched to meet the need for the development and production of a floating transformer station that can be used in locations with deeper sea levels.

The innovation project focused on:

• Development of a conceptual design for a floating transformer station, with design focus on:
  • The floating structure
  • Topside and layout of components
  • Electrical design
  • Cable management and mooring lines
• Construction of a scaled-down model of a floating transformer station to validate the numerical model of the floating system, cables, and mooring lines based on experimental tests.

Result

Floating technology will provide access to areas that were previously not economically viable for utilization. Floating transformer stations will therefore increase the production capacity of offshore wind energy, which will have a positive impact on the amount of green electricity produced.