Eólicas

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 13 (2009) 1027–1038

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rser

Transmission alternatives for offshore electrical power
´ ´ ´ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ Inigo Martınez de Alegrıa a,*, Jose Luis Martın a, Inigo Kortabarria a, Jon Andreu a, Pedro Ibanez Ereno b a b

Universidad del Paı´s Vasco, Electronics and Telecommunication Department, Spain ´n ´gica TECNALIA, Energy Unit, Spain ROBOTIKER, Corporacio Tecnolo

A R T I C L E I N F O

A B S T R A C T

Article history: Received 6 March 2008 Accepted 25 March 2008

Keywords: HVAC HVDC LCC HVDC VSC Submarine cable Offshore platform Marine power

The oceans represent a huge energy reservoir. Although today all of the marine power projects are very near from the shore and they are rated at low power, the huge potential of the seas may in a not very distant future bring marine power further into the sea. Also offshore oil and gas exploration is moving into deeper waters and at longer distances from land. New carbon sequestration projects under the seabed are on the way which require a vast amount of electric power consumption. The substitution of offshore power generators by power provided from the grid may have environmental benefits, but the deployment of offshore transmission of bulk electrical power to or from offshore platforms to the electrical grid onshore is a mayor challenge. The main objective of this paper is to focus on trends that can lead to a feasible transmission system in offshore energy systems far from land, and to introduce the technological alternatives which could help to reach that goal. The paper describes the main alternatives and the technical and economical aspects of the transmission of electrical power offshore. ß 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contents 1. 2. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .