ABB has won an order worth around $55 million to supply a submarine AC power cable system for a new wind farm, located off the coast of Norfolk, UK. The underwater cables will link the 400 MW Dudgeon offshore wind farm to the UK national grid. The order was received from Dudgeon Offshore Wind Ltd, a company owned by Statoil and Statkraft.
The turbines will be located in waters 18-25 m deep on a 55 sq km site situated 32 km from the coast near the seaside town of Cromer, north Norfolk. The wind farm will produce enough ‘green’ energy to displace emissions of carbon dioxide of up to 19 million tonnes over its 25 year lifetime.
The seabed cable will come ashore at Weybourne Hope, 5 km west of the coastal town of Sheringham. From there, an underground cable will be laid to carry the electricity to Necton, where a purpose-built substation will connect it to the national grid.
"Offshore wind is a growing renewable energy resource, with Europe accounting for around 70 % of new offshore wind generation capacity" said Claudio Facchin, head of ABB’s Power Systems division. "This is a key focus area for ABB as we strive to balance the growing need for electricity while minimising environmental impact."
ABB will design and supply two 132 kV three core AC submarine cables, each 42 km in length, running from the offshore substation to Weybourne Hope. The submarine cables will be manufactured at ABB’s high-voltage cable factory in Karlskrona, Sweden, and delivery will commence in 2016.
"The submarine export cable connection is a long-lead item and placing this contract represents a major milestone in the development of the Dudgeon project," said Bjørn Ivar Bergemo, asset manager of the Dudgeon wind farm. "These cables will be some of the longest offshore cables ordered so far for a UK offshore wind project"
