New System Optimizes Transmission from Offshore Wind Farms

Scientists from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) in Spain have developed a new system for converting offshore wind turbines' alternating current (AC) into direct current (DC) for high voltage transmission to shore. 

The researchers have developed a distributed control system which can synchronize and regulate the electrical voltage and frequency of the electricity generated by the turbines so that transmission to the general network is possible using a high voltage DC link with a diode rectifier station. 

This could reduce costs by up to 30 percent and could be particularly economical for large wind farms located far from shore. "What we have managed to do is to provide the technical feasibility necessary to use this kind of rectifier, since at the moment wind turbines still cannot work with them," explains José Luis Rodríguez Amenedo, from UC3M's Department of Electrical Engineering. The result is less complicated, cheaper and more flexible than other current solutions.

The researchers have developed three patents which they have validated through simulations, small-scale laboratory prototypes and proofs of concept. They are now looking to commercialize the technology.