Aker Offshore to Deploy Undersea Substation for Offshore Wind

  • These substations will reduce the costs of deploying offshore wind projects in areas of the seabed too deep for fixed substation foundations.
Aker Offshore Wind is set to deploy Scotland’s first offshore wind underwater substation. Aker will develop and manufacture the subsea innovation in Scotland by Aker Solutions. Aker believes subsea substations will present many reliability and cost benefits as seawater could be used as a natural cooling system. At the same time, the fewer components and lack of rotating parts increase stability, requiring less maintenance and operational costs. Aker will supply the substation as a part of the Scotland licensing process. In addition, Aker has partnered with Ocean Winds to submit a series of floating bids that could deliver up to 6GW in the Outer Moray Firth.

Sian Lloyd-Rees, managing director of Aker Offshore Wind UK., states: “both the Aker group and Ocean Winds have the necessary heritage and experience to deliver this at scale. We know the benefit is there – it will revolutionise how energy is produced and present Scotland with the opportunity to export genuinely innovative technology to the rest of the world. “Through innovation, we have the opportunity to implement new technology in the ScotWind leasing round, making Scotland and the UK a global leader in subsea solutions for floating offshore wind and exporting the technology around the world.”

Dan Finch, managing director of Ocean Winds UK., adds: “The development of subsea substations is another major step forward in terms of using world-leading energy technology from our partners, Aker. It will enable the construction of wind farms in areas of the seabed which are too deep for fixed substation foundations, therefore facilitating access to cost-effective sites worldwide, even in very deep waters.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *