Semco Maritime, ISC Consulting Engineers, Aalborg University, Energy Cluster Denmark, and Norway and Sweden-based Inocean have secured funding to further develop a floating offshore substation (FOSS) concept.
The parties announced their collaboration in 2022 and are now set to further accelerate floating offshore substation development through funding from the Energy Technology and Demonstration Program (EUDP).
“ Our team’s goal is to mature our earlier announced FOSS400 design further which will unlock the potential for producing wind energy at sites far from the coastline with deeper ocean depths . The funding will solidify our concept as a scaled basin test at Aalborg University is embedded to validate platform and equipment motions “, said Tommy Flindt , Senior Director of Technology at Semco Maritime.
The substation layout has been developed to fit the shape of a three-column stabilised substructure, according to the partners.
The floating offshore substation is a crucial component in the offshore wind farm industry as deeper ocean sites further from the coastline are to be utilised, the partners said.
Between 60-80 per cent of the world’s offshore wind energy potential is in areas with depths greater than 60+ metres, which presents a need for an alternative solution to bring the power to shore, such as a floating offshore substation, according to the developers.
In September 2022, Saipem and Siemens Energy announced the joint development of a concept design for a 500 MW high-voltage alternating current (HVAC) floating electrical substation for use in offshore wind farms.
In June that same year, DNV and 30 industry partners launched a Joint Industry Project (JIP) aimed at improving technology development for floating offshore wind substations.