High voltage engineering specialist, EDS HV Group, part of James Fisher and Sons plc, has completed installation, termination and testing work at the Blyth Offshore Demonstrator wind farm.
The Blyth wind farm project has enabled owner and developer, EDF Renewables UK, to trial new technology and it is the first offshore wind farm to be built upon gravity-based foundations, EDS said.
Importantly, Blyth Demonstrator is also the first offshore wind farm to use a 66kV cabling system. This is a critical development for the industry which will lead to more cost-effective power collection and transmission to shore, as well as being a crucial development in the push to continuously reduce the Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE).
Use of this higher voltage requires a much higher skill set and EDS were able to provide the necessary expertise to complete 66kV terminations and testing on all 5 assets, along with fibre optic termination and testing, the company said.
“EDS was delighted to be chosen to assist EDF Renewables UK in the commissioning of this landmark project. We believe that 66kV will quickly become the industry norm and we are pleased to offer the necessary level of competence and experience required to manage this change within the industry,” Ken Ritson , group managing director of EDS said.
Located 5.7km off the UK’s North East coast, the 41.5MW Blyth Demonstrator comprises five MHI Vestas 8.3MW wind turbines which were officially put into operation in June 2018.