Consultancy OWC has secured a US$240,000 award from the National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium (NOWRDC) to research co-ordinated transmission
The research OWC will examine whether it is possible to enable multiple offshore wind projects to use the same landfall location and, potentially, the same onshore corridor.
The project, entitled ‘Shared Landfall and Onshore Cable Infrastructure for Cable Co-Location Feasibility Study,’ will address cable landfall and onshore constraint issues related to the expected growth in offshore wind in the US.
Transmission cables from offshore windfarms on the US east coast are likely to make landfall in congested and environmentally sensitive areas where space is scarce and ample constraints exist, causing conflicts between projects and leading to increased project costs and schedules, especially for later projects.
US onshore cable installation is costly, causes environmental disturbance from construction works and can carry permitting schedule risks, increased costs, and in a worst-case scenario, potential permit approval denial.
OWC US country manager Jeff Fodiak said, “NOWRDC recognises onshore and landfall cable constraints are a key barrier for offshore wind.
“Our idea is an approach for shared infrastructure to accommodate and co-locate cables at landfall and key onshore transmission corridors to increase cost efficiency and derisk this element for projects.
“The aim is to develop a conceptual design for landfall and onshore cable infrastructure that could be shared by two or more different projects.”
OWC will identify a reference project as the basis of the study, such as two or three potential projects in the New York Bight. This will be discussed with stakeholders such as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and windfarm developers.
A concept case design for shared landfall and onshore infrastructure to accommodate and co-locate third party export cables will be developed, supported with design drawings. The concept case will then be fully costed to feasibility level and the LCOE compared with the base case without this shared infrastructure.
OWC, part of ABL Group, will be supported by ITPEnergised, Power Advisory, Continuum Associates and Prospect Hill Consulting as part of the team to deliver the study.
