|
GE Power Conversion Enables DC in Remote Power Networks,
cutting Cost of
Offshore Wind Electricity by 15 Percent
> GE Develops Technology to
Extend DC Transmission to Subsea and Renewable Energy Turbines |
| > DC
Power Collection Could Lead to Fewer Offshore Components and Higher
Reliability |
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> A Full DC Architecture Has the Potential to Reduce the Cost
of Electricity from Offshore Wind by 15 Percent |
|
> DC Enables Simpler,
Smaller and Lower Cost Offshore Substations |
March 4, 2014 + + +
GE Power Conversion (NYSE: GE) has announced the successful trials of
PassiveBoost™—its technology to allow remote power networks to go DC. This
is an important step in lowering the cost of power delivered from offshore
installations and increasing the electrical output delivered from
renewable energy sources in distant, inhospitable places.
Since
Edison, electrical engineers at GE have recognized the effectiveness of DC
in the transmission of electricity from the sites where it is generated to
the homes and businesses where it is needed. Modern power electronics have
made it possible to realize that efficiency gain for power transmission,
and PassiveBoost extends its potential for use in the distribution or
collection grid.
The trials, performed at the company’s full-scale
power system test site near Leicester, in the U.K., brought together new
technologies, which GE has been introducing over the past four years. The
solution on test provides a straight replacement, on the same footprint,
for the AC transformer inside every wind turbine and allows direct
connection to an efficient, high-voltage, DC power collection grid while
reducing cable cost and without the need for an expensive and complex DC
breaker.
Keiran Coulton, senior executive, global industry at GE
Power Conversion said, “Whether extracting fossil fuels or capitalizing on
renewable energy resources, we find ourselves working further offshore or
in inhospitable desert locations. In either case, the energy wasted in AC
transmission systems is costing the energy consumer too much. The
technologies behind PassiveBoost will enable these costs to be cut.”
In PassiveBoost, GE has used a new power device packaging technique
with a novel cooling system. Crucially, GE also has its ActiveFoldback™
fault protection system, which has allowed it to protect the DC network at
equivalent or lower cost compared to AC.
“Like all electronics, the
cost of power conversion is coming down while the prices of materials in a
conventional transformer are rising,” explained Coulton.
The
PassiveBoost project has been supported by Scottish Enterprise, with parts
of the trial system being manufactured in GE’s Glasgow plant.
Seoniad Vass, director of renewable energy and low carbon technologies at
Scottish Enterprise, which was involved in the early stages of the
project, said, “Reducing the cost of electricity generated by offshore
wind is a vitally important factor in realizing the significant economic
potential of the technology. As a result, the development of innovative
technologies such as this is key to the sector’s ongoing development, and
we look forward to continuing to work with GE in this important field.”
Research and development was undertaken by teams from GE Power
Conversion’s Advanced Technology Group at the University of Edinburgh and
in Rugby, Warwickshire, in the U.K.
Source: Paul Floren
GE
Power Conversion - www.gepowerconversion.com
March 4, 2014
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