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TECHNICAL BROCHURE
483
WG
Guidelines for the Design B3.26
and Construction
of AC Offshore Substations
for Wind Power Plants
Members:
J.S. Finn, Convener (UK), J. MacEnri, Secretary (IE), R. Szewczyk (PO),
M. Osborne (UK), Martijn de Ruiter (NL), I. Tigchelaar (NL), T. Flindt (DK),
A. Neumann (UK), J.C.S. Álvarez (ES), S.E. Rye (DK), M. Ono (JP),
K. Taketa (JP), G.Q. Varela (ES), D Hackwell (UK), P. Sandeberg (SE),
A. Jawad (UK), S.G. Dastidar (BE), G. Nichol (UK), B. Johnnerfelt (SE),
R.L. King (GB), A.J. Hernandez Manchola (VE), T. Boehme (GB),
A. Hjerling (DK), B.J. Tait (GB)

Corresponding Members:
F. Schettler (DE), H.E. Abdallah (US), A.F. Alvarez (ES), H. Koch (DE),
K.P. Knol (NL), T. Kobayashi (JP), G. Hentschel (DE), M. Esken (DE),
C. Olerud (NO), L. Cuen (US), S. Grattage (GB), R. Brandstrup (DK),
D. Meadows (GB), J. Berger (DE)

Present developments show a growing interest in

renewable and clean energy sources. Rising tempe-
ratures, rising sea level and increasing occurrence of
extreme weather conditions have lead people to believe
we need to change our ways.
European countries have committed themselves to
decrease emissions and to invest in renewable energy. By
2020, 20% of the energy in Europe has to be produced
by renewable sources and the goal is set for 20%
reduction of greenhouse gases. Elsewhere in the world
similar goals are being pursued.
A popular renewable energy source is wind.
Worldwide hundreds of gigawatts of wind power have
been installed successfully on land. Recently the wind
energy industry has moved offshore where there is more
wind and more space. The North Sea is a particularly
attractive area where water depth is limited and wind is
abundant, but also the Baltic Sea and shallow coastal
areas near the US and China are being considered.
These new offshore wind power plant developments
have led to the need for offshore high voltage substation
platforms.
Offshore substations have been previously produced
for the oil and gas industry but there are some major
differences between the oil and gas substations and
those required for wind power plants both from the
technical and economic view points. The wind power
plant substations involve much higher power levels, of
the order of 500MVA with a number of large power
transformers and from the economic view point there is
not as much money available to solve the problems as
there generally is in the oil and gas sector. Furthermore,
because of the intermittency of the power source a
completely new approach is required to the redundancy
requirements compared to that which is the norm for
onshore substations (N-1 etc,). This means that before
beginning the design process there are some
fundamental policy decisions which need to be made by
the Developers/Utilities and these involve risk
assessment, maintenance policy and certification. These
fundamental considerations are addressed in the first
Chapter of the brochure. Arising from these
fundamental considerations a policy for the total

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TECHNICAL BROCHURE
483
WG
B3.26

Typical wind farm arrangement Typical SLD for Offshore S/S

development of the offshore wind power plant should equipment to be located on the offshore substation.
be established which will provide the framework for the When considering the specification aspects for
design of the offshore substation. equipment these can generally be divided into four
main sub groups as follows:-
When this framework is available the design work
– Parameters coming from the system studies
for the offshore substation can begin. However, with the
These parameters are technical requirements
unusual conditions such as long submarine cables with
such as the short circuit level, full load current,
significant generation of VARs, necessity to comply with
lightning impulse withstand level, transformer
Grid Codes, the development of the single line diagram
impedance etc.
for the wind power plant will usually involve looking at
– Parameters defined by the operation and mainte-
the overall system.
nance regime
These parameters are the requirements for
modularity; any requirements for condition
monitoring, need for special tools e.g. tap
changer removal tools.
The next Chapter describes the offshore AC
– Parameters specific to the type of plant itself
substation design issues that involve more than one
These are items specific to the type of plant itself
component or even the complete system. This involves
and could cover environmental considerations,
reliability, availability and maintenance issues as well as
vibration and transport forces, special technical
system properties like total substation power, reactive
considerations and physical and interface
power management, applied voltages and harmonics.
requirements.
Focus is on the electrical system. The purpose is not to
– Important items to define to the platform supplier
provide standards or solutions for the design issues, but
associated with regard to the accommodation for
to provide guidance in the considerations that need to
the equipment.
be taken into account when designing an offshore
substation. The Chapter concludes by including a list of
It may well be necessary for the equipment supplier
the studies which will normally be required. The
to define to the platform supplier specific requirements
completed studies will lead to the final single line
for the room in which the equipment is to be accommo-
diagram and provide some of the key parameters for the
dated.
primary plant to be installed on the offshore substation.

The next Chapter 4 attempts to elucidate design

considerations with respect to the High Voltage AC
Chapter 3 attempts to give guidance on the writing Substation platforms and their associated substructures
of the technical specifications for the main electrical and foundations including environmental

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1111-043 Electra259.qxd:0507-012Mep221 29/11/11 11:23
Rigging laid on topside prior to sea transport
impacts, remote location, maintenance issues, access
management, etc.
Commencing with an overview of the platforms
and the different technologies used today followed by a
brief discussion of the most important parameters that
need to be considered. It continues with one of the most
important subjects when working offshore, i.e. Health
Safety and Environment (HSE). HSE must in all parts
and from the very beginning permeate the thinking and
be part of the fundamental design strategy.
The boundary conditions for the design are then set.
These are typically parameters or inputs that are
external to the design and cannot be easily changed, e.g.
local and global legislations, site location and ambient
conditions such as temperature, currents, wave heights,
wind speed etc.
Unlike boundary conditions that are to be
considered as more or less fixed, the next section
discusses parts or aspects of the transmission system
Foundation Examples
Monopile Jacket
Page 81
TECHNICAL BROCHURE
483
WG
B3.26
Bracing of Equipment for Transport
that will have a significant influence on the platform
design but may be subject to discussion and/or iteration.
Examples of such equipment or parameters are
electrical components and secondary systems, sub-
structure interface, cable installations and installation
programme, commissioning tests, etc.
Having “set the scene” in the previous sections, the
actual design philosophies, design parameters and issues
within its own discipline that will have a major influence
on the final platform design are discussed. Aspects
related to structural integrity, what to consider for the
general arrangement layout, primary access and egress
systems, emergency response and platform auxiliary
systems are considered. Furthermore, a comparison of
stressed skin vs. clad truss braced design is performed
and corrosion protection, operation and installation
and commissioning of plant onshore considered.
This leads on to different types of platform concepts
like container deck, semi enclosed and fully
Self-Installing
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enclosed topsides. To some extent pros and cons of self
installing concepts like floating and jack-up solutions
are discussed and compared.
Having thoroughly dealt with the topside, the next
section covers what is underneath, i.e. the substructure.
Different concepts are compared and pros and cons
discussed.
Aspects of load out, transportation, installation and
hook up and the consequences these may imply on the
overall design of the topside and substructure are
covered. A brief overview of the available lifting vessels
is included for information.
Finally, an assessment of fire and explosion design,
together with fire detection/alarm and passive/active fire
suppression is presented.
483
TECHNICAL BROCHURE
navigation aids, aeronautical aids which are not
WG
normally associated with onshore substations.
B3.26
The final Chapter briefly summarizes the work
which is now required, from a new WG, to address the
aspects associated with AC collector substations for
wind power plants which will be connected by HVDC
links which was expressly excluded from the content of
this brochure.
It is sincerely hoped by the whole team involved in
the preparation of this brochure that this document will
assist all Utilities, Developers and Contractors to achieve
satisfactory solutions for the offshore substations
required for their wind power plants. ■

Chapter 5 deals with the substation secondary

systems which are those systems which provide the
functionality necessary to
● ensure safety of personnel engaged in operation of
BROCHURE N° 483
the substation and associated systems
H a r dc o py
● permit operation of the substation primary cir-

cuits.
i n En g l i s h o n l y
● monitor the performance of the installation

● detect and manage abnormal conditions on the sys-

tem and in primary equipment. O n s a l e a t t h e C e n t r a l O ff i c e

● manage the environment in which the equipment

operates.
Me m be r P r i c e :
The detailed functionality depends on the specific €
installation and the way in which it is operated. The
guidelines set out in this Chapter assume that the No n -Me m b er P r i ce :
offshore substation is classified as a normally unmanned €
(unattended) installation but allows for the use of the
substation as a marshalling point for staff involved in
maintenance of the substation and associated systems.
It also looks at how the secondary equipment
e -m ai l : p u b li c at i o n s @ c i gr e . o r g
requirements differ from what we are all familiar with in o u t é l é c h a r g e r à h t t p : / / w w w .e - c i g r e . o r g
onshore substations. This includes how the normal or d ow nlo ad at ht tp : //w w w.e-c i gre.org
aspects such as protection, control and metering are ( M e m b r e s u n i q u e m en t / M e m b e r s o n l y )
addressed as well as those new items such as CCTV,

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