Ørsted Taps ABB for Hornsea Two Grid Connection

ABB has won orders worth over USD 150 million from Danish energy company Ørsted to supply a range of technologies that will help integrate and transmit energy from the Hornsea Project Two offshore wind farm to the UK grid.

The orders are the first tranche of a global five-year frame agreement for the supply of electrical and automation equipment for offshore and onshore wind power connection and integration to the grid, ABB said.

Hornsea Two is a 1,400MW project to develop wind resources in the North Sea about 100 kilometres off the Yorkshire coast, UK.

ABB will supply its Static Var Compensation (SVC) Light technology with advanced ABB Ability™ MACH control systems, High Voltage gas-insulated switchgear (GIS), transformers, reactors and harmonic filters. ABB will also be responsible for the engineering, supply, project management and commissioning of the digital control and protection systems for the onshore substation and the two offshore platform substations.

“We are delighted to partner with Ørsted for this strategic long term technology alliance and work towards our common goal of integrating more renewables into the grid and promoting sustainable energy solutions,” said Claudio Facchin, President of ABB’s Power Grids division.

“Advanced technologies and ABB Ability™-based digital solutions will play a key role in enhancing capacity and improving quality and reliability of electricity supplies to millions of people. This project reinforces ABB’s position as a partner of choice for enabling a stronger, smarter and greener grid.”

The electrical power flow from Hornsea Two farm will be protected and controlled by the largest Static Compensation (STATCOM) system ever built for an offshore wind application, according to ABB. STATCOMs help offshore wind generating turbines to increase power transfer capability, improve power quality and enhance grid stability. The brain of the STATCOM is the ABB Ability MACH control, protection and monitoring system, managing this technology by overseeing thousands of operations in real time to ensure power reliability and efficiency.

As part of the project scope, the ABB Ability™ enabled MicroSCADA system will be used for monitoring of the electricity network and gather data from Relion® Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs) and Remote Terminal Units (RTUs) to ensure safe and reliable grid integration system operations. Advanced mission critical technology will also be used for communication between the offshore platforms and the onshore substation.

Hornsea Project Two will comprise 165 Siemens Gamesa 8MW wind turbines scheduled for commissioning in 2022.