Ørsted and Vattenfall laid out 33 kV 8 km cable for back up electricity between Horns Rev 2 and Horns Rev 3 offshore wind farms in the North Sea

Ørsted and Vattenfall laid out 33 kV 8 km cable for back up electricity between Horns Rev 2 and Horns Rev 3 offshore wind farms in the North Sea. Photo: Horns Rev 3 offshore wind farm

(PRESS RELEASE) STOCKHOLM, 19-Jun-2019 — /EuropaWire/ — Offshore wind farms Horns Rev 2 and Horns Rev 3, owned by Ørsted and Vattenfall, have just connected to each other with a new eight-kilometre long cable. The cable connection is meant to supply each other with electricity in the case the export connection to land is disconnected. The newly installed cable has just recently been used during the four-days disconnection of the export cable to Horns Rev 2 by the Danish system operator Energinet due to scheduled maintenance work. During the blackout, the wind farm was supplied with electricity from Horns Rev 3.

Both companies have decided to invest in the 33 kV cable in order to establish a layer of extra security for their investments in the North Sea. In the event of an issue with the export connection to the land, it is not only critical for the supply of electricity to customers on the mainland, but it is also critical for the wind turbines as well.

The 33 kV 8 km long cable was laid out in April 2019 and represents a back up / security solution both in terms of the environment and with regard to investments and operating costs.

Connection between two offshore wind farms that are owned by different companies is established for the first time. The offshore wind farm Horns Rev 2 has been in operation since 2009, while Horns Rev 3 has just started supplying power to the electricity grid in December 2018 and will be operating at full capacity by the end of the summer 2019.

When it comes to emergency power generation the Horns Rev 2’s wind turbines usually rely on emergency power from a central generator on an offshore platform while each turbine at Horns Rev 3 offshore wind farm has a small emergency generator.

Commenting on the new 33 kV cable, Niels Møller Jensen, Interface Manager at Horns Rev 3, said:

“Offshore wind turbines must always be supplied with electricity; otherwise there is a risk of significant damage from for instance humidity. The cable also enables a quick and easy start-up of the offshore wind farm once the export connection is back in service. In addition, we save a lot of diesel fuel and operating hours for the emergency generators for both the wind turbines and the service boats.”

Commenting on the connection with Horns Rev 3, Allan Due Overbeck, Head of Operations Horns Rev 2, said:

“We are really happy that we could supply our 91 wind turbines with back-up electricity from Horns Rev 3 during Energinet’s planned inspection of the export cable’s high voltage switch. Thanks to the new cable, we were able to resume generation of green power much faster.”

Media contacts:

Esben Baltzer Nielsen
press@vattenfall.com
+46 8 739 50 10

SOURCE: Vattenfall