The 576 MW Gwynt-y-mor offshore wind farm was re-designed in a case study to indicate the vast savings achievable. During the study, Kinewell Energy found that £2.2m, or 3% of the installed cable cost, could be saved by utilizing KLOC compared to traditional design techniques.
Kinewell Energy has demonstrated that its new software, KLOC, could have saved an operating offshore wind farm £2.2 million ($3.1 million) had the technology been available when the wind farm was designed. The North East of England based company launched the KLOC software in November 2015 following two years of research and development.
The software optimizes the geographical layout of offshore wind electrical cables, which collect the energy before it is sent to shore. The 576 MW Gwynt-y-mor offshore wind farm was re-designed in a case study to indicate the vast savings achievable. During the study, Kinewell Energy found that £2.2m, or 3% of the installed cable cost, could be saved by utilizing KLOC compared to traditional design techniques. The savings were realized by reducing the overall cable length by 1.7 km and through the reduction of electrical losses, about 1.2 GWh/year.
Managing Director Andrew Jenkins said, “We are excited by the results of this case study. It demonstrates the economic impact our innovative KLOC software will have on the UK energy market, which will ultimately lead to savings on household utility bills. If our technology is used for all future UK offshore wind farms, we would expect an extra 70 GWh of electrical energy to reach the UK each year. That would negate around 27,000 tons of CO2 ….”
Filed Under: News, Offshore wind
