ABB Bags Transformer Order for 950 MW Offshore Wind Farm in North Sea

ABB has won an order from Vestas to supply 100 energy-efficient and compact WindSTAR transformers for installation in an offshore wind farm in the North Sea.

Under the project agreement, the ABB transformers will be supplied for Moray Offshore Renewable Power’s Moray East offshore wind project. The wind farm will have a capacity to generate 950 megawatts (MW) of renewable wind power in Moray Firth (an inlet of the North Sea), 22 km off the coast of Scotland. The farm will be capable of providing enough clean energy to power up to a million households and could save up to 3.3 million tons of carbon dioxide every year, compared to coal generation.

The 295 sq.km. the wind farm will contain enormous wind turbines with the capacity to generate 9.5 MW of electricity at 66 kilovolts. This will be made possible by the transformers that are compact enough to be placed inside the wind turbine. They will increase the voltage of the turbine-generated electricity to enable efficient transmission with reduced losses.

The high power and voltage are critical in generating and transmitting power efficiently, as part of an important cost-reduction strategy which will ensure the future of clean, offshore wind generation. As such, Moray East will deliver power at £57.50 per MWh, less than half the cost of power generated by comparable offshore wind farms that are under construction presently.

“ABB transformers are a critical factor in offshore wind electricity generation, helping to ensure an economically feasible and sustainable future for the industry,” said Laurent Favre, managing director of ABB’s Transformers business line. “Our innovative WindSTAR transformers are specially designed to meet specific application needs under the mechanical and structural constraints of offshore wind farms.”

In the last year, ABB has won two more orders for similar WindSTAR transformers for important offshore wind projects by MHI Vestas Offshore Wind: Borssele 3 & 4 wind farms, off the coast of the Netherlands, and Windfloat Atlantic in Portugal. The latter is a floating, offshore wind project, comprising the world’s largest and most powerful wind turbines ever installed on a floating foundation.