Converteam’s DC Architecture for Wind farms Awarded £328,000 Grant Funding

Rugby, 27 January 2011 - Power conversion specialist Converteam today announced that it has been awarded a £328,000 grant from Scottish Enterprise to contribute towards the development of key elements of game changing technologies for offshore wind farms.

As worldwide investment in renewable energy continues to accelerate it is increasingly apparent that there is a need to improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the technologies employed. Converteam’s “Fully DC Architecture”, known as “ProWind-DC” is one such major leap forward and is expected to reduce total cost of ownership of offshore wind power generation and distribution by up to 20%. Such gains will be realized over the lifecycle of a typical offshore wind farm through reductions in initial capital expenditure, and increased system reliability and need to be coupled with the upside derived from higher energy capture due to the higher efficiency.

Speaking for Converteam, Derek Grieve, Director Technology, “An offshore wind installation that generates and then transmits DC energy to shore is much more efficient and cost effective than one which is based on alternating current (AC). We believe that a fully DC architecture will relieve this industry of many of the constraints that it faces today – offshore wind energy is about to enter its most productive phase so far.”

Converteam, a world leader for generators and wind converters (with more than 20GW installed worldwide), has always been at the developmental leading edge and has pioneered the application of many technologies for this market including the first hybrid permanent magnet generator; the first high power direct drive permanent magnet generator and the first grid fault-ride-through compliant fully fed and doubly fed converter systems.

The grant from Scottish Enterprise will target the development of a DC power converter. This piece of equipment is a key enabler for realising the intended DC Architecture and is the fundamental component for the efficient export of DC power from each turbine tower.

Expected to be operational by mid 2012 the development will be supported by Converteam’s existing manufacturing plant based in Glasgow in order to provide project support, design for manufacture expertise, sourcing, manufacturing and test facilities prior to site trials.

David Reid of Scottish Enterprise observed “This exciting development supports the future growth of a renewables energy market. Scotland is well placed to benefit from the vast amount of renewable energy resource available and the Scottish government is keen to develop Scotland as a world centre for renewable energy technology and exploitation.”

He added “It is very clear that as the DC architecture establishes itself in the expanding renewables market that the requirement for suitable equipment could ensure the future for Converteam’s Glasgow facility, and will probably lead to a significant expansion of the Glasgow site to accommodate the required volume manufacturing operation. We’re investing now in the creation of high skill research and development jobs in support of high skill manufacturing jobs in Scotland for the long term.”

In a further measure in support of the evolution of an advanced skills base in Scotland Converteam has recently announced the formation of a new research and development facility, known as the Scottish Advanced Technology Group (SATG), to be based at the University of Edinburgh’s Institute of Energy Systems.
 

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