Posters
Come meet the poster presenters to ask them questions and discuss their work
We would like to invite you to come and see the posters at our upcoming conference. The posters will showcase a diverse range of research topics, and will give delegates an opportunity to engage with the authors and learn more about their work. Whether you are a seasoned researcher or simply curious about the latest developments in your field, we believe that the posters will offer something of interest to everyone. So please join us at the conference and take advantage of this opportunity to learn and engage with your peers in the academic community. We look forward to seeing you there!
PO078: Collaborative development of a subsea energy hub - a game changer for floating wind farm electrical architectures
Lucy Bain, Field Development Engineer, Subsea7
Abstract
The Floating Offshore Wind industry continues to evolve at a fast pace, and even if it can get some inspiration from its more mature cousin the offshore fixed wind, it is facing huge challenges of its own and requires solutions specific to floating wind. The inter-array electrical architecture is one of them that, when addressed, could make a significant difference in the viability of projects. In this presentation, we will compare well known electrical architectures to a new inter-array star alternative. This new layout relies on an innovative plug-and-play subsea energy hub consisting of several wet-mate connectors. This new product is offering a gateway to harness wind energy in deep-sea environments by reducing the wind farm development CAPEX and complexity, bringing additional flexibility for the farm offshore construction and maintenance, as well as increasing the uptime. Some of the key benefit introduced by this new technology include that a single dynamic cable of smaller cross section is required per turbine, which brings cost reductions, and the ability to keep each turbine independent in the farm which leads to uptime efficiencies when conducting repair and maintenance. We will delve deeply into the subsea energy hub design and its optimised development program thanks to the recycling of field proven offshore technologies. The collaborative work, performed by two market leader companies in offshore construction and electrical system, on the development of this cutting-edge innovation will pave the way for a new reliable and efficient wind farm design through a consolidated business case. This approach is key in making floating offshore wind possible and viable in the near term.
