![]() Of course the only way to transport that power from the wind farms to the grid is via a submarine cable.Īn unfortunate reality of wind power generation is that it is, by its nature, intermittent (an availability ofbetween 40-50%,(3) compared to 82-92% for nuclear, coal, oil, gas). Industry projections see a total of around 8GW of capacity installed by 2016 and around 18GW installed by 2020, by which point offshore wind will supply between 18 to 20% of the UK's electricity annually. In addition to the capacity already installed, a further 5.7GW is either in construction or has planning approval, and a further 12.3GW is in the planning system. So we must look to further offshore wind energy. New nuclear power isn't planned to come online until 2023 or later. To ensure the lights stay on we need to maintain a headroom above our maximum demand. This sounds good, however, over the next few years the UK is going to lose 12GW of generating power from old coal fired power stations and 7.5GW of nuclear generating capacity is due to come to its end of life. London Array - showing all the inter-array cables and export cables Submarine Power Cables and Security of Supply The UK currently has a power generating capacity of around 80GW, and during the winter has a maximum demand of around 60GW, this leaves a head room of 20GW. Many of the earlier inshore wind farms use AC export cables, whereas the larger wind farms further offshore will move to using HVDC cables. The type of cable used will depend primarily on the distance from the shore. In addition to offshore wind, power generated by offshore wave and tidal power generation is also totally dependent on submarine power cables to bring the energy on shore. Smaller cables run from each turbine to an offshore substation, the power is then transported over a higher capacity export cable to an onshore grid connection. All of those wind turbines are connected by submarine cables. Unsurprisingly, cables are as central to offshore-to-shore power transmission as they are on land. ![]() In addition to the above there are numerous island power links and a further 5no. These links, total 4 gigawatts (GW), and represent around 5% of the UK's existing electricity generation capacity.Īnglo/French Inter-connector = 2GW to France, Brit-Ned Inter-connector = 1GW to the Netherlands Moyle Inter-connector = 500MW to Northern Ireland East-West Inter-connector = 500MW to the Republic of Ireland These link Great Britain to France, Ireland, the Netherlands and Northern Ireland. Great Britain currently has four major electricity inter-connectors. However, the very latest cable technology has the potential capability of reaching up to 1,500km. At 580km, it is the longest submarine power cable in the world, with a capacity of 700MW. This changed how the world thought about submarine electricity transmission as it was realised that it was now possible to connect to other countries overseas that were previously thought unreachable.Ĭurrently the longest inter-connector is the NorNed cable between Norway and the Netherlands. This was 98km long from Gotland Island to the Swedish Mainland and had a capacity of 20MW. In 1954 the world's first submarine HVDC Cable, Gotland 1, was installed. Map showing Submarine Cable Interconnectors Being able to share energy between countries reduces the frequency and severity of high price spikes and smoothes the supply/demand timelines. Inter-connector cables are being laid to move energy freely throughout Europe, thereby ensuring security of supply (2). The advent of offshore renewable energy requires export cables from wind, wave and tidal installations are needed to bring the renewable energy ashore.Ī report (1) published in 2013 advises that the UK economy could gain £6.7bn per year and 150,000 jobs by 2020 from the development of offshore renewable energy resources. The importance of submarine power cables has increased steadily in recent decades. Submarine power cables have evolved significantly since then, through developments in technology and design, ever increasing in capacity and length. The first submarine cable to carry electricity was laid across the Isar River in Bavaria during 1811. This article is also available to download and can be freely distributed.
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