Technical advisory group ABS has published safety requirements and technical standards for floating offshore wind substations.
ABS’ Requirements for Offshore Substations and Electrical Service Platforms addresses not only fixed bottom substations but also includes new information for the rapidly increasing project size of global floating sites.
Since 2022, new developments have been awarded and others are advancing along the waters of Scotland, South Korea and the US West Coast.
The standards were produced with input from offshore wind project developers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of substations, and transportation and installation (T&I) companies.
“This publication is the latest in ABS’ support of the offshore wind industry. We’ve been instrumental in the formulation of global standards for offshore wind platforms, notably working with the International Electrical Commission, IEC, on the design and fabrication of floating wind installations,” said ABS vice-president, head of global offshore wind Greg Lennon.
Senior electrical transmission engineer for Ocean Winds Diego Tarno added: “Based on our experience as a pioneer in floating offshore wind, Ocean Winds’ floating portfolio is increasing rapidly, with exclusive developments rights for four commercial scale projects in South Korea, the US and the UK, making a third of our current 16.6GW portfolio from floating technology.
“To realise these projects and unlock opportunities, the development of reliable technical support in the form of these requirements published by ABS is key for optimising the processes and therefore reaching our objectives of development.”