BW Ideol has signed a memorandum of understanding with Hitachi ABB Power Grids for an industry-first collaboration on developing scalable floating substations.

Hitachi ABB Power Grids will provide substation packages for installation on BW Ideol’s shallow-draft floating platforms. 

According to BW Ideol, the floating substations will also be able to be implemented with bottom-fixed wind farms to mitigate challenging seabed conditions and/or challenging offshore installation operations. The substations will comprise transformers, switchgear and other high-voltage products specially developed by Hitachi ABB Power Grids for floating offshore platforms.

“We are accelerating the delivery of a market-ready floating substation offering and solution via this unique collaboration,” said Paul de la Guérivière, CEO of BW Ideol. “It brings together two market and technology leaders to create a standardized and scalable solution for all floating offshore wind power requirements.”

The installed capacity of floating offshore wind installations is forecast to grow from 66 MW in 2019 to at least 6.2 GW in 2030 as more and more countries in Europe, Asia and North America are expected to develop deepwater wind resources.