Subsea power collector for floating wind to pilot in Norwegian North Sea

A subsea power distribution system is to be piloted by Aker Solutions for floating offshore wind off the coast of Norway.

Aker Solutions is to provide its new subsea collector to pilot with two floating offshore wind turbines located in Norway’s Marine Energy Test Centre’s (METCentre) test area 10km off the southwestern coast of the island of Karmøy.

By 2025 the test area is expected to be expanded to seven floating offshore wind turbines.

“The subsea collector is a great example of true industry collaboration,” comments Jo Kjetil Krabbe, executive vice president of Power Solutions at Aker Solutions.

Have you read?
Equinor’s Trine Borum Bojsen on how to unlock wind potential of North Sea
The North Sea – a clean energy hotspot for Europe

“Combining Aker Solutions’ vast subsea experience with our partner’s proven control and connection systems, we aim to solve challenges currently facing the offshore wind sector. We hope this project will result in a field proven system that can benefit the industry for many years to come.”

The subsea collector is designed to connect multiple wind turbines electrically in a star configuration instead of the traditional daisy chain pattern, which should allow more flexibility in future offshore wind farm architectures and construction.

The design also is aimed to allow for reduced cable length per turbine and park, as well as less vessel time and installation costs.

Initial findings reported by Aker Solutions support total cost savings on a 1GW floating wind farm of up to 10%.

The main component parts comprise a 66kV wet mate connection system provided by Benestad and subsea switchgear with SCADA by ABB.

The installation will be carried out by the Windstaller Alliance, an alliance between Aker Solutions, DeepOcean and Solstad Offshore. Aker Solutions will also provide the static export cable to shore.

Aker Solutions has stated that the development of the subsea collector has drawn on the company’s experience in power solutions for subsea gas compression and more recently for floating offshore wind such as Equinor’s Hywind Tampen, which was developed to provide renewable power for offshore oil and gas in the Norwegian North Sea.