Dat's a BIG wind turbine!
- Thread starter Gilligan
- Start date
Sneakers
Just sneakin' around....
I heard they were going to use all of the power generated to light navigational markers so boats could avoid the windmill.
Offshore wind farms typically include an "aggregation platform" where all the power from the turbines is combined and then sent ashore as DC. On the larger farms where our boats are working, the aggregation platforms often include spacious living accommodations for the service technicians. Here in the US, with only a handful of turbines operating offshore (compared to the many thousands overseas), I wouldn't be surprised to see initial installations run cable directly to shore from each turbine....
Type Certification is a tricky deal. I don't know yet what kind of requirements the US is putting on offshore turbine certifications..and whether they'll accept Type Certs from other regulatory/classification authorities.
So a big battery to keep from having big spikes and sags? Are they a constant voltage with a variable current?
Sneakers
Just sneakin' around....
Which is surprising, as AC carries much better over long distance than DC. Stepped up AC uses smaller, less expensive wires, lower losses, ...
I was surprised, back when we started working on these farms, to learn that was the case. They utilize large "substation" facilities on shore, with DC-AC inverters and whatever controls they need to feed the power grid with a very variable power source. Interestingly, transformer technology has been a problem...the large variability in the power flow was causing lots of premature transformer failures.