Under the contract, GE will be responsible for the design, supply, build and commissioning of the substations along with ground works and civil construction
GE secures substation installation contract for 450MW Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind project in UK. (Credit: GE's Grid Solutions)
GE Renewable Energy’s Grid Solutions unit has been selected for the construction of onshore and offshore substations for the 450MW Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind project in Scotland.
Under the contract, GE will be responsible for the design, supply, build and commissioning of the substations along with ground works and civil construction.
Located in 19km off the Fife coast in Scotland, the project is jointly owned by EDF Renewables and Irish state-owned utility Electricity Supply Board (ESB).
The company will construction the 400/220 kV onshore wind substation on a greenfield site.
GE is collaborating with HSM Offshore BV in the Netherlands and IV-One for the offshore substations of the project.
The 220kV and 66kV offshore substations will be built on an offshore topside platform, which will provided by HSM and designed by IV-One.
GE’s Grid Solutions Europe, Russia & CIS president & CEO Gerhard Seyrling said: “GE’s Grid Solutions business is very proud to work with our consortium collaborators to support both shareholders in their growing portfolios of onshore and offshore wind farms as well as to help deliver low carbon electricity generation in the UK.”
Neart na Gaoithe wind farm is expected to be fully commissioned in 2023
The onshore and offshore substation equipment for the Neart na Gaoithe wind project comprises four power transformers, four reactors, the static synchronous compensator (STATCOM), power quality components, and gas insulated switchgear at 66kV, 220kV and 400kV along with protection and control, SCADA, and telecommunications systems.
The wind project is expected to be fully commissioned in 2023 and will be connected to the Scottish electricity grid.
Once operational, the project is expected to generate enough electricity to power over 375,000 Scottish homes while offsetting more than 400,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions yearly.
In December last year, GE Renewable Energy has secured a 150MW order for its Cypress onshore wind turbines from Rio Energy for the 223.25MW Serra da Babilonia wind farm in Brazil.
The company is responsible to deliver 30 Cypress wind turbines with an operating range from 4.8MW to 5.1MW for the wind farm.