The Cornwall Flow Accelerator work package 4 led by ORE Catapult details innovation in low carbon design and manufacturability that lays the groundwork for development of low carbon strategies, across design, manufacturing, and operations & maintenance. Within this work package, the goal of this specific task 6 analysis, is for the electrical infrastructure for floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea to identify opportunities in the UK’s South West region.

This research will build on earlier considerations of how floating offshore wind can be integrated into the South Wales and South West UK transmission network. This research will take the format of two distinct sections. Firstly, it begins with an overview of electrical system from regional network down to single turbine output power, and focuses on a scenario based on
a 500 MW floating offshore wind farm, comparing 66 kV and 132 kV submarine cable to increase the flexibility and importance of floating wind farms and substation designs for Celtic Sea. Secondly, a holistic view of electrical infrastructure is followed to identify the technical challenges in dynamic inter-array cables and collector systems, and comparison is made between high-voltage alternating current and high-voltage direct current for offshore energy transmission.

Link to Full Report:  CFA-OREC-The South-West Transmission Network and Floating Offshore Wind Optimization in the Celtic Sea