EPCI SOLUTIONS - INNOVATION IN OIL, GAS AND RENEWABLE ENERGY SOLUTIONS
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OFFSHORE WIND

Offshore Wind and Energy Storage are two of our primary focus areas in renewable energy. We cover development through to execution.

Renewable Technologies - how we can help

Renewable Energies cover a broad spectrum of technologies, each with its own challenges, advantages and disadvantages. Furthermore, the technology adopted will also depend on the geographical and geological conditions pertinent to the site. In the last few years, there have been considerable technology advancements in the form of hydropower, wind and solar.
  • Wind power - as technology becomes more advanced, windfarms move from onshore to offshore
  • Hydropower - although hydroelectric power from the likes of the Three Gorges Dam are incredible, we see technology taking us offshore to harness wave power.
  • Solar energy - the most common solution are the photovoltaic arrays, however there are other technologies such as Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)
  • Bioenergy - the use of bio fuels
  • Geothermal energy - the use of harnessing the thermal energy below the the earth's crust

Although our skills and experience in Electrical, Instrumentation and Communications are relevant to all technologies, our primary focus is on Offshore Wind Power. This includes the Wind Turbines, Collector Stations, Subsea cables and Onshore Substation.
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Characteristics of selected energy storage systems (source: The World Energy Council)

Offshore Wind Power

Offshore wind technologies have been consistent and rapid. There has been much innovation with locating windmills in deeper waters, where it is not possible to use fixed structures. In these cases, there has been a move towards three principle technologies:
  • Tension Leg Platform
  • Spar
  • Semi submersible platform

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have been investigating TLPs for wind turbine since 2006 and before. Blue-H Technologies of the Netherlands deployed the first floating wind turbine on a TLP.


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Conceptual European Super Grid
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Windfarm Electrical Systems Engineering

In the case that the farm is typically within 60km from shore and export power is high voltage AC, then the ESPs would typically include the MV/HV Export Transformer.

In the case the farm is located further than 60km from shore, the export power would typically consider High Voltage DC, and the ESPs would include the AC/DC Conversion equipment.

Our focus is on "Balance of Plant"  ​The balance of plant includes all the components of the wind farm except the turbines, including transmission assets built as a direct result of the wind farm. 



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HVDC Converter Station in transit by Heavy Lift Vessel to site
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Cross section a submarine power cable [Canadian Renewable Energy Corporation]

Offshore Wind Substations

Offshore substations are the heart of the offshore windfarm. The collect all the power from the individual wind turbines and transmit this power to shore.

Our experience in this area includes studies, design engineering, procurement and installation activities related to the scopes of:
  • High voltage switchgear
  • Reactors and transformers
  • Service building auxiliaries, such as low voltage switchgear, transformers, emergency power, lighting and UPS
  • Monitoring and Control system
​
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Racebank
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Sandbank

Electrical Service Platforms and Converter Stations

ESPs and Converter Stations are very similar to eHouses used on other offshore installations. More about our experience can be found in Marine and Offshore

The outfitting of these buildings can be viewed in two parts:
  • Primary electrical system and the
  • Building and Auxiliary Services.

Primary electrical system
The primary electrical system for a large 400MW to 800MW wind farm comprises the following main components:
  • Wind turbine generators, typically in the order of 6-8MW each
  • Electrical Service Platforms, 1 or 2
  • Array cables, typically 33/66kV
  • Export cables, two distinct routes within the cable corridor, typically at 150/220kV
  • Onshore Connection Station
  • ​Onshore Substation 150/220kV on the feed side, with matching transformer to the utility network on the demand side.


Building and Auxiliary Services.​
​he ESP building (offshore) and in a similar fashion, the onshore substation building will have the following services provided;
  • HVAC system for environmental control
  • Fire detection, and possibly fire extinguishing system
  • Lighting and small power system
  • Emergency power system, that could include emergency generator
  • AC UPS and DC UPS and associated battery systems.​



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HV Modular substation, comprising Instrument Room, Control Room, and HV Gas Insulated Switchgear.

BVG Associates have prepared a "Guide to an offshore wind farm", that provides a good overview of the Balance of Plant.

We focus on the Electrical System
guide-to-offshore-wind-farm-2019.pdf
File Size: 2372 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Our areas of expertise

We offer valuable expertise in a number of areas, however our primary focus is on Offshore Electrical Service Platform and Onshore Substation Engineering, Procurement and Construction within the Electrical, Instrument and Communications disciplines.
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Command Center for all unmanned remote control and monitoring of turbines, Electrical Service Platforms, and Substations.
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Commissioning of Medium Voltage Switchgear. Similar experience in 35kV Hybrid switchgear, and Gas Insulated Switchgear up to 232kV
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Network Controllers, for Integrated Control Command and Safety (ICSS) for the electrical system.
Contact:          George Ralston - Principal Consultant
Email:              george@georgeralston.com
Telephone:    +39 331 802 9277
Copyright © 2016 - All Rights Reserved 

​EPCI Solutions LLC is a Texas registered Company
Operations in USA, Canada and Western Europe.
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  • Home
  • CONSULTANCY & MANAGEMENT
    • Front End Loading
    • Business Plan Development
    • Project Management
    • Contract Management
    • Independent Project Reviews (IPRs)
    • Dispute Resolution
    • Contracts
  • EPC SERVICES
    • Engineering and Design Services
    • Procurement Support
    • Field Engineering
    • Commissioning
    • Document Management
  • INNOVATION
  • OFFSHORE WIND
  • MARINE / OFFSHORE
  • ONSHORE
  • Journal
    • Consultancy Journal Archive
    • EPC Journal Archive
    • Drafts
  • About & Contact
    • Charge Rate Structure