Semco Maritime, ISC Consulting Engineers, Aalborg University, Energy Cluster Denmark and Norway, and Sweden-based Inocean have obtained funding to forward the development of a floating offshore substation (FOSS) concept.
The parties announced their collaboration in 2022 and are now set to accelerate further the floating offshore substation development through funding from the Energy Technology and Demonstration Program (EUDP).
According to Semco Maritime, the floating offshore substation (FOSS) is a crucial component in the offshore wind farm industry as deeper ocean sites further from the coastline are to be utilized.
Traditional offshore wind farms are installed on the ocean floor, but at depths greater than approximately 80 meters, this method becomes costly and challenging.
Between 60-80% of the world's offshore wind energy potential is in areas with depths greater than 60+ meters, which calls for an alternative solution to bring the power to shore, such as a floating offshore substation.
“Our team’s goal is to mature our earlier announced FOSS400 design further which will unlock the potential for producing wind energy at sites far from the coastline with deeper ocean depths”, says Tommy Flindt, Senior Director of Technology at Semco Maritime.
“The funding will solidify our concept as a scaled basin test at Aalborg University is embedded to validate platform and equipment motions. We are very excited to work on this cutting-edge technology to ensure a reliable and cost-effective floating substation can be brought to the global market.”
"The funding will take our floating offshore substation concept to the next crucial step. We have together with Semco and Inocean developed the FOSS400 based on our knowledge and experience from a proven track record of over 50 offshore substations. We are confident this team will bring a competitive floating substation forward,” says Andreas Laungaard, Vice President of Renewable Energy at ISC Consulting Engineers.
“Based on our experience with our INOTM series of floating wind turbine foundations together with an extensive track record of integration/interface work related to HVDC substations, we look forward to see the funding accelerate our development of a robust and scalable floating substation concept that will benefit the growing industry,” added Sara Helgeson, MD at Inocean Sweden.