Technology
Speaking more generally, MV wind converters offer an array of benefits for both turbine OEMs and its end users, the operators. OEMs, as Wahlström explains, can make smaller systems due to the increase in voltage, meaning the current goes down and it requires less copper and fewer cables. As a result, generators can be lighter and transformers smaller, making it easier to build a wind turbine.
Operating efficiently
“The second [benefit] is clearly efficiency,” Wahlström notes. The use of MV offers improved efficiency for the drivetrain and ultimately the entire turbine. “Therefore, turbine OEMs can build easier, smaller turbines – and get more power out of individual turbines.”
ABB also boasts that its IGCT technology components would likely continue operating far beyond the lifespan of the wind turbine itself. “You could say it’s an almost eternal component,” Wahlström declares. “The semiconductor has, practically speaking, no lifetime restrictions […] so it doesn’t need to be replaced during the [turbine’s] lifetime. This is, of course, a high cost saving.” IGCT- based MV wind converters are also fuseless, instead using other inherent protection mechanisms further increases their reliability.
MV converters can result in higher operating voltages and thereby reduce costs.
voltages seamlessly. Hinting that there might be further developments in coming months and years, as the supply chain works on enhancements such as the semiconductors, Wahlström says for now the 3.3kV converter is the benchmark.
“The semiconductor has, practically speaking, no lifetime restrictions, so it doesn’t need to be replaced during the turbine’s lifetime. This is, of course, a high cost saving.”
3.3 - 6.6kV
ABB 26
The typical voltage ranges of ABB’s MV wind converters.
However, he stresses, keeping components down to a figure that is “as low as possible” is key to ensuring they provide the best reliability, today and in the future. This, Wahlström adds, will be a compelling proposition for all parties – for cost, reliability and availability reasons. “The fewer components you have, the more likely it is that nothing will fail […] and the more possible it is to make a very compact and light converter,” he continues. This is where selecting the right semiconductor can drive the entire design process to deliver something “which fits into the industry as good as possible, from early on”.
It seems they will likely become critical to today’s offshore wind sector, and that of tomorrow – if indeed, they haven’t already. As the demand for wind power grows, naturally increasing the demand for larger turbines, ABB’s next-generation MV wind converters – with ratings up to and even beyond 20MW – will deliver in the region of a 33% uplift in power, with a similar quantity of components as their lower- power predecessors. Offering what the company describes as a significant improvement to grid stability thanks to their improved capability to handle higher power output and stabilise voltage and frequency fluctuations, wind farm operators could capitalise on the increased efficiency, reliability and profitability with a lower total cost of ownership. Adding to this, Wahlström highlights the enhanced data collection and analysis capabilities of these newer technologies, an area that he says is growing in importance for ABB’s customers. MV wind converters are progressively capable of cloud connectivity, allowing enhanced operational oversight across individual turbines and entire fleets. This means operators and turbine OEMs “have all the data available to make the right decisions on long term”, he says. It seems the offshore wind industry has a bright future, full of huge potential, yet with increasingly small components. For now, though, as Europe fends off international competition, the ABBs of the continent are on a mission to offer products with a shore-side appeal – reliability, efficiency and cost savings. ●
World Wind Technology /
www.worldwind-technology.com
ABB
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