DNV, independent energy expert and insurance provider, is looking for partners to launch a new joint industrial project (JIP) for offshore floating substations. The aim is to align industry best practices allowing for accelerated technological development and to fill the gaps in available substation standards allowing the scaling of floating offshore wind with an acceptable level of commercial, technical, health, safety and environmental risks.

“In DNV’s latest Energy Transition Outlook report, we predict that by 2050, installed floating wind capacity will have reached over 260 GW and that the technology will reach commercial scale deployment within the next 15 years, ”said Kim Sandgaard-Mørk, Executive Vice President for Renewable Energy Certification at DNV. “While essential for scaling up floating offshore wind farms, floating substations have not received the same level of attention as their turbine counterparts – so we are launching this JIP. “

“Together with industry partners, DNV has developed the standard DNV-ST-0145 offshore substations,” explains Markus Kochmann, head of offshore substations in renewable energy certification at DNV. “Over the past 10 years, this standard has become widely used in the industry. The current standard focuses on fixed underground substations, but we are seeing a growing trend towards floating wind and we want to use this JIP to support the industry by developing rules for floating substations.

DNV works continuously with industry to develop up-to-date standards and recommended practices tailored to the demands of the evolving renewable energy market. One of the most widely used documents is the DNV-ST-0145 standard which provides the technical requirements for the certification of offshore power substations. As of its latest update, over 500 industry comments have been reflected in this standard which is growing in importance as a growing number of projects pursue new concepts. The results of this JIP will be used to update the standard making it applicable to offshore floating substations.

“Substations are at the heart of every offshore wind farm because they collect the electrical energy produced in the wind turbines and convert the electricity for transfer to consumers onshore via export cables,” adds Kristin Nergaard Berg, consultant senior principal at DNV and project manager for the JIP. “We are seeing tremendous interest from the industry to join our JIP. More than 50 participants from more than 20 companies spanning the entire offshore wind value chain joined DNV in a first workshop where the scope of work was discussed. We plan to carry out the JIP over a period of one year, starting in Q4 / 2021. “