134. New Technology Offers Options for Offshore Wind and Power-to-X Projects

New technology is regularly being developed and enhanced to improve power delivery and incorporate more renewable energy into systems. ABB Energy Industries is among the companies investing large sums of money in research and development (R&D) programs to make future power systems better. Among its current projects are subsea power distribution and conversion concepts, which could benefit the offshore wind industry, and a Power-to-Ammonia pilot project. “We have a lot of experience—over 20 years—with this subsea equipment,” Asmund Maland, head of subsea and offshore power at ABB Energy Industries, said as a guest on The POWER Podcast. “Our intention is to put on the seabed what we call the ‘services substation and collector systems,’” he explained. Maland said the subsea equipment could replace or act as an alternative to a floating substation, which he expects will be more needed as the offshore wind industry moves to deeper waters. ABB has already tested these systems for the oil and gas (O&G) industry with great early success. Nearly a decade ago, the company initiated a $100 million Joint Industrial Project with Equinor (formerly Statoil), Total, and Chevron with support from the Research Council of Norway. As part of that project, ABB completed the development of an electrification system for transmission, distribution, and conversion of power, to subsea pumps and gas compressors, at a peak capacity of 100 MW, to water depths up to 3,000 meters, with transmission distances up to 600 kilometers, and with little or no maintenance for up to a lifetime of 30 years. “If you replace a floating substation with something on the subsea, you will reduce to one-fifth of the steel. So, by that, there is also then potential capex [capital expenditure] savings of maybe over 30%, and also, the opex [operating expense] savings of the year will also be quite good,” said Maland. ABB expects to be ready to take orders for subsea offshore systems by the end of 2024. On the podcast, Tom Zøllner, head of ABB Energy Industries for