Vattenfall, the Swedish energy group, plans to deploy High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) cable technology to connect Norfolk Vanguard offshore wind farm and its sister project Norfolk Boreas to the UK National Grid.
The wind farm developer said that it has made a strategic decision to back HVDC on the Norfolk projects for two reasons.
“Firstly, Vattenfall believes it will be cost competitive with High Voltage Alternating Current (HVAC) technology due largely to lower losses of transmitted electricity, fewer cables connecting the wind farms to the grid and innovation leading to lower cost on and offshore substations and associated equipment.
“Secondly, compared to HVAC connecting big, distant from shore wind farms to national grids, HVDC will have less of an impact on the environment and local people where onshore infrastructure is located, ” Vattenfall said.
Vattenfall’s 1.8GW Norfolk Vanguard offshore wind farm is expected to receive a consent decision from the UK Government at the end of 2019 and if permitted will be up and running by the middle of the 2020s. Its sister project, Norfolk Boreas is following behind in the planning process.
The Norfolk Vanguard project would meet the equivalent electricity needs of 5% of UK households, around 1.3 million homes, and it would be located more than 47 km from the Norfolk Coast.
In addition, its sister project of the same size, the Norfolk Boreas, would be located more than 73 km from the Norfolk Coast.
Both project are named after ships commanded by Admiral Lord Nelson.
Gunnar Groebler , Vattenfall’s head of Business Area Wind, said: “Vattenfall wants to be a leader in maturing HVDC technology to connect its large-scale, far offshore wind farms – like Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas – to national grids. In taking that lead, we will work with HVDC technology suppliers to deliver cost competitiveness for big offshore wind farm projects. Importantly, it also means that our decision to deploy HVDC for projects like Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas is kinder to the environment and local people.”