Alstom Makes the Grid Connection for Norway's Windfarm

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources Incorporated; Houston, Texas). One of Europe's largest windfarms, located in Smola Windpark, Norway, has been connected to the national grid by Alstom (PARIS:ALSO, NYSE:ALS, LSE:ALS0) (Paris, France). Opened this month by King Harald of Norway, the farm, which is owned by energy producer Statkraft, has (20) 2MW windmills and will generate 120 GWh per annum, equivalent to the consumption of 6,000 Norwegian households.

A full turnkey system was designed by Alstom for connecting the windfarm to the grid, consisting of a 22kV/145kV substation, containing a 75MVA transformer, a six-bay 24kV medium voltage switchgear unit, a capacitor bank, and accompanying protection and control equipment. The transformer substation is controlled remotely by the Norwegian utility Nord More Energiverk.

The first phase of the windfarm was completed in 11 months and involved the erection of 20 wind turbines and the construction of 8 km of internal roads and 11.5 km of overhead power lines.

There are plans to add 55 windmills to the site to give a total capacity of 150GWh per year. These additions are stalled at present due to the uncertainty currently surrounding windpower subsidies in Norway.