Mainstream Renewable Power has announced that its 448MW offshore wind farm in Scotland will use two recently launched technologies which are set to decrease costs. The technologies include the new Offshore Transmission Module (OTM), by Siemens Energy Management Division and High Wind’s Boom Lock system to be deployed by GeoSea for wind turbine component installation at sea.
The new Offshore Transmission Module (OTM), by Siemens will remove the need for large heavy offshore substation platforms and the associated specialist installation vessels. The design approach means that two wind turbine foundations can be used to support the OTM modules, which include the essential transmission equipment. In combination the OTM’s offer the same transmission capacity as a conventional solution but with an expected 30% project saving against the offshore substation system CAPEX costs as well as reducing the operating costs significantly.
High Wind’s Boom Lock system will allow the safe installation of all wind turbine components in winds of up to 15 m/s. The system is mounted on an offshore crane and is designed to control the movement of the crane hook and the payload in such a way that installation time can be drastically reduced. It will considerably increase safety during the installation of the wind turbines as the heavy payloads’ uncontrolled movements in windy conditions will be greatly reduced.
Neart na Gaoithe received planning consent in October 2014 and is expected to be generating electricity and fully commissioned by 2020.