OWC has received a $240,000 award from the National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium (NOWRDC), in the US, for an offshore wind transmission study.
The consultancy will carry out research into coordinating the use of transmission assets to allow multiple offshore wind projects to use the same landfall location and potentially the same onshore corridor.
The ‘Shared Landfall and Onshore Cable Infrastructure for Cable Co-Location Feasibility Study’, aims to address cable landfall and onshore constraint issues related to the expected growth in new offshore wind farms in the US.
For example, transmission cables from offshore wind farms along 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.
OWC’s study scope is to identify a reference project as the basis of the study, such as two or three potential NY Bight projects.
This will be discussed with stakeholders such as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and offshore wind farm 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 levelised cost of energy compared to the base case without this shared infrastructure.
OWC country manager Jeff Fodiak said: “NOWRDC recognises that 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 de-risk 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, which is part of ABL Group, will be supported by partners ITPEnergised, Power Advisory, Continuum Associates and Prospect Hill Consulting as part of the team to deliver the study.