Conversion course

While European governments have been putting significant funding into the construction of offshore wind farms, they will only be a viable power source for consumers if transmission systems are efficient.

Current offshore wind farms are constructed relatively close to the coast, but larger farms planned for the future will need to be built further out to sea — meaning they will need a better method to transfer power.

That's why German engineering company

has invested millions in better power transmission systems for this market, paying particular attention to high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission technology, which is an alternative to the currently used alternating-current (AC) systems as a means for the bulk transmission of power.

The huge advantage of HVDC is the ability to transmit large amounts of power over very long distances at much lower capital costs and with greatly reduced power losses than AC.

Recently the company launched HVDC Plus, a system based on a new generation of power converters using voltage-sourced converter (VSC) technology. According to Siemens the system is able to install DC links up to the gigawatt range where conventional, line-commutated converters are still used exclusively today.