Economics of DC wind collection grid as affected by cost of key components

Paper in proceeding, 2011

Using High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission lines to connect offshore wind parks to the onshore power grid has been proven technically advantageous to AC solutions and more cost-effective for relatively long transmission distances (>70km).The concept of applying DC technology can be expanded to the collection grid. DC collection grid offshore wind parks can be developed only if several key components currently nonexistent are available. The technical challenges involved can result in the unpredictability of their costs. This paper investigates the effect the uncertainty of the key components’ cost can have on the overall economic performance of DC collection grid offshore wind parks. Results for a wide cost range are presented and corresponding cost boundaries which secure the economic viability of such parks were determined.