Hitachi Energy wins orders to integrate offshore wind farms with Poland's power grid

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 9 (Bernama) -- Global technology leader, Hitachi Energy has won two major orders from Equinor and Polenergia to provide an alternating current (AC) grid connection and power quality solution for their jointly owned MFW Baltyk II and MFW Baltyk III offshore wind farms, with a combined generating capacity of 1,440 megawatts in the Polish sector of the Baltic Sea.

Hitachi Energy’s Grid Integration business managing director, Niklas Persson said integrating large-scale renewable energy sources with the power grid was a key enabler of the energy transition and a field in which the company has been a pioneer for decades.

“Our grid connection technologies feature in offshore wind farms worldwide, and our power quality solutions resolve bottlenecks and keep the voltage stable and the energy flowing in power systems globally,” he said in a statement.

Hitachi Energy will provide each of the two wind farms with an offshore grid connection that will receive the power from the wind turbines and transfer it to shore, a mainland grid connection that will transmit the power into the national transmission system.

It will also provide a STATCOM power quality solution to ensure that power flows reliably and stably at optimal capacity and at all times, despite the often high variability of wind power.

MFW Baltyk II and MFW Baltyk III are pending a final investment decision in 2024, and are scheduled to deliver first power in 2027.

They will be one of the first offshore wind farms in Poland and part of the country’s ambitious programme to develop its offshore wind potential and increase the use of renewables in its electricity mix, which historically is dominated by coal.

The announcement follows a recent global agreement between Hitachi Energy and Equinor to collaborate on high-voltage transmission systems (AC and DC) to connect Equinor offshore wind farms and production facilities to mainland power grids worldwide.

-- BERNAMA