Italian energy services contractor Saipem has teamed up with Germany’s Siemens Energy to jointly develop a concept design for a 500 MW high-voltage alternating current (HVAC) floating electrical substation for use in offshore wind farms.
The partners said that floating offshore substations, installed in deep water, offer several advantages, such as a lighter substructure, an easier and asset-light installation in challenging conditions, and lower decommissioning costs.
The floating offshore substation concept will be based on a semisubmersible substructure, and it is designed to operate in the most extreme environments with enhanced stability and can be scaled up as required.Â
In addition, the design will address the industrialisation phase as it can be adapted to fabrication and assembly infrastructures worldwide. The floating substation could represent a tangible solution for reducing floating wind farms’ levelised cost of energy (LCOE).
Under a memorandum of understanding, Saipem’s expertise in the engineering of complex and sustainable offshore infrastructures, including floating solutions, will be combined with Siemens Energy’s transmission portfolio to develop cutting-edge, standardised and scalable technology.
“The new concept will be an enabler to enhance offshore wind developments in deeper waters by lowering the overall infrastructure investment,” said Fabrizio Botta, chief commercial officer at Saipem.
Agustin Tenorio, vice president of transmission systems at Siemens Energy, added: “The new joint solution will significantly optimise critical technical parameters, such as weight, electrical efficiency, and asset longevity, thus lowering the production costs and enabling an unprecedented number of countries to benefit from large-scale offshore wind generation.
