WPD, a wind power developer based in Germany, has awarded Crompton Greaves (CG) the development of the design, delivery and installation of the high voltage off shore substation for the Butendiek project.

Butendiek is a 288-mw German offshore wind farm project to be installed in the North Sea, with 80 turbines of 3.6-mw each.

CG will design, engineer and supply the off-shore high voltage substation. CG will deliver and integrate all critical power equipments to connect the 33kV and 155kV networks (power transformers, high voltage and medium voltage switchgear as well as the auxiliary reactors and transformers.) The design and manufacturing will take place during 2012 and the installation is planned for 2013

CG connecting technology has been chosen for its high reliability, high performance and cost effectiveness. In fact CG has developed an innovative AC/AC connection link for offshore wind farm. This technology already used in other platforms on the North Sea (Belwind wind farm) has minimal weight, hence lower costs and is designed for optimal and minimal maintenance compared with traditional high voltage AC or DC solutions.

The offshore wind business is expected to growth from the 1.5 GW in 2010 to 25 GW by 2015 globally in which Europe will take the major contribution. Innovative wind turbines, grid connections and foundations will make this business more competitive to deliver a vast portion of renewable energy for 2020 and beyond, a release from CG observed.