Rentel export cable damaged but wind farm continues operation

What happened

The export cable running from the Rentel offshore wind farm platform to the Belgian mainland was reported damaged. The 309 MW wind farm continued to feed electricity into the grid through an alternative route via the Modular Offshore Grid offshore power hub, which Elia operates. The cause of the cable damage has not been reported and was still being investigated. Rentel has two export cables, one of which was interrupted. The meshed grid connection allowed continued generation, unlike earlier Belgian offshore wind farms. To avoid overloading the hub cables, generation from the four connected wind farms was temporarily limited in high winds.

Contributing factors

The cause has not been reported. Elia said the cable incident was still being investigated.

Lessons learned

1. Meshed offshore grid connections can maintain power export after damage to a single export cable.
2. Temporary limits on generation may be needed in high winds so that an alternative route is not overloaded.
3. Continued generation through a second export path should not be treated as evidence that the damaged cable is back in service.

Source

offshoreWIND.biz (offshorewind.biz)