DNV GL has announced the launch of the construction phase of the €70m project to expand its existing High-Power Laboratory facilities. The expansion will create the world’s first lab in the extreme testing segment for the emerging market for super grids capable of bulk energy transport at 800 kV+ (800,000 Volts and above). DNV GL expects to perform the first tests at the expanded lab in 2016.
Under the expansion programme, DNV GL is increasing the number of short-circuit generators at the High-Power Laboratory from four to six, extending the available testing power to 15 GW. This is about two-thirds of the current installed electricity generating capacity of the Netherlands.
Global demand for electricity is growing rapidly. This growth will translate into a strong increase in investments in electricity transmission and distribution (T&D) infrastructure.
In particular, the development of super grids will be crucial, enabling transnational and transcontinental transmission networks that facilitate the high-volume transport of electricity across great distances.
With renewable energy sources typically located away from population centres, super grids also facilitate the integration of large-scale renewable energy. Super grids are already being developed in some countries, for instance, the long-distance, ultra-high-voltage connections between hydropower stations in western China and east-coast load centres such as Beijing and Shanghai.
Other examples can be found in Canada and India, while a possible connection between continental Europe and large-scale solar farms in Africa’s Sahara Desert has been mooted.
