SuperGrid Institute is thrilled to be taking part in the WindEurope Electric City 2021 conference from the 23^rd to the 25^th of November. We will be flying the French colours high on our stand in the Business France Pavilion at this onshore and offshore wind energy event. During the conference, we will place special emphasis on sharing our vision of the future of floating wind dynamic inter-array grids. Come and meet our experts dedicated to developing technologies for the future power transmission system.

The wide-scale integration of renewable energies (including wind generated energy) requires a network capable of transmitting electricity over long distances, both offshore and onshore. As such, a mixed AC and DC grid is essential. SuperGrid Institute’s experts will present our advanced expertise, tools and testing facilities to WindEurope’s attendees during the conference and show how we are working to develop innovative system solutions and new medium voltage to high voltage products.

Isabelle Najarre, group leader for subsea technologies, will present the “Economic assessment of an innovative architecture for floating offshore wind farms” with a poster & presentation during the plenary session. This scientific overview will present our analysis of the different possible architectures for floating wind farms. “We have proven that the Fishbone architecture is the most efficient solution for the majority of upcoming floating wind farms, explains Isabelle Najarre. Our conclusions are based on our techno-economic analysis methodology, developed to compare grid architectures. This method accounts for capital and operational expenditures, as well as projected production losses.

We believe this architecture is the future for floating wind farms and are dedicated to developing the technologies needed for this innovative solution.” SuperGrid Institute is highly involved in the development of subsea connectors for dynamic inter-array cable systems which will reduce both the cost and downtime of floating wind farms.

Developing our own technological building blocks for AC and DC applications is one of our main topics of research at SuperGrid Institute for the wind energy sector.

We also provide our customers with design and testing services for the development of new medium-voltage and high-voltage products: substation equipment, converters and cable systems. One of our test platforms, our hyperbaric test platform, was designed for testing medium to high-voltage subsea equipment – cables, connectors, penetrators and power distribution hubs – under water pressure.

SuperGrid Institute also performs feasibility, techno-economic and advanced design studies for wind power and solar collection systems as well as power transmission systems. Thanks to our OpTEAsoft software tool, we can optimise and evaluate the techno-economic balance of different grid options in the field of offshore wind power collection and HVDC transmission grids. OpTEAsoft is used by our Grid Consulting team to support industry players in preparing tender specifications and competitive bids.

We look forward to meeting you at this conference to develop our expertise with you and find ways of working together!