Yorkshire’s Offshore RCS is wind farm double world record breaker
4 Jul 2018
The first-ever offshore Reactive Compensation Station (RCS) has been installed off the Yorkshire coast as part of what will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm and the furthest from any mainland.
Part of the Hornsea Project One wind farm, the RCS transfers electricity from offshore substantions which have converted clean electricity from wind turbines’ medium voltage cables to high voltage, so it can be exported with fewer losses. This is then transferred via the RCS, which lies half way between the site and the shore, to the National Grid.
A spokesperson for the project owner, wind farm global pioneer and developer Ørsted, explained that the RCS would enable transmission with high voltage alternating current through much longer cables than would otherwise be possible.
The station comprises a jacket foundation and a topside which weigh 1,500 tonnes and 2,500 tonnes respectively, and is the first RCS to be installed offshore anywhere in the world.
Hornsea is due to complete in 2020 and will boast a capacity of 1.2 GW, making it the first wind farm with a capacity exceeding 1 GW. Currently, the world’s largest offshore wind farm is London Array, at 630 MW, which will be over taken by Ørsted’s Walney Extension (660 MW) later this year.
