Beatrice Offshore Windfarm has chosen a consortium of Nexans and Siemens Transmission and Distribution to supply a transmission system to connect its new wind farm off the coast of Scotland to the grid. Nexans will deliver two complete 220kV export cable circuits to help meet growing energy demands in the region. The development, once fully constructed and operational, could provide energy equivalent to the needs of more than 450,000 British households. The contract with Nexans is worth approximately €245m.
Nexans cables to connect Beatrice Offshore Windfarm to the Scottish grid The turnkey contract will see Nexans manufacture and deliver two circuits of 90km, with a total of 260km of onshore and offshore cables. The offshore cables will be laid by Nexans’ unique cable laying ship, C/S Nexans Skagerrak and trenched for seabed protection by Nexans’ Capjet system.
The Beatrice Windfarm project is a joint venture between SSE Renewables Limited, SDIC Power of China and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. It is located 13.5km from Caithness in northern Scotland and will be operated and controlled from a base at Wick. The 588MW wind farm will be made up of 84 7MW turbines. Power will be carried by offshore and onshore cables to Blackhillock in Scotland to connect with the grid. Cables delivery will begin in mid-2016 with installation starting in late 2017. The wind farm will be operational by 2019.
Nexans high-voltage and underwater cable senior executive vice-president Dirk Steinbrink said: "This contract represents Nexans global commitment to meeting the growing energy demands and facilitate energy transition in Europe. It highlights our ability to deliver turnkey projects for connecting offshore wind farms to the grid."
For more than 15 years, Nexans has been a key driver in the development of wind farm technology. It was the first company to manufacture three-core 245kV submarine cables and the first company to manufacture 420kV submarine cables. So far, Nexans’ cables have integrated in excess of two 600MW of offshore wind farm energy to power grids globally.
Nexans is continually getting involved in more innovative projects, similar to the first floating wind farm. Nexans’ achievements in the industry include an intra-city extra-high voltage system to reinforce the grid in Shanghai and 60km of extra high-voltage cables to strengthen the Belgian grid.