ABB has secured an $80m contract to supply an advanced cable system that will connect Rentel’s $1.4bn offshore wind farm in the North Sea to the Belgian grid.
The contract requires ABB to design, manufacture and install a 220kV alternating current (AC) submarine cable system for the offshore substation at the project.
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The 40km-long extruded three-core system with a transmission capacity of 300MW will transport clean electricity from the windfarm to shore.
The offshore wind farm connection will be commissioned in 2018.
The connection will help Belgium to meet its environmental objectives for 2020, specifically to increase the share of renewable energy to 13% of total energy production.
ABB power grids division president Claudio Facchin said: "The Rentel windfarm cable link will help bring clean wind power to the people of Belgium.
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By GlobalData"It is another example of ABB technologies that enable the integration of renewable energy and lower the environmental impact, which is an integral element of the company’s Next Level strategy."
The offshore wind farm comprising 42 Siemens’ SWT 7.0-154 wind turbines will generate electricity that will be enough to power nearly 280,000 households.
Each 7MW turbine will have a hub height of 106m, a rotor diameter of 154m, and a swept rotor area of 18,600m². The turbines will feature Siemens B75 single-piece cast blades, which are one of the lightest blades in its class.
The turbine rotors will be directly connected to the generator to eliminate the need for a gearbox, making Rentel the first wind farm in the Belgian waters to use Siemens direct-drive technology.
Image: The offshore wind farm will generate renewable power. Photo: courtesy of ABB.
