Hitachi Energy, a global technology leader that is advancing a sustainable energy future for all, today announced it has won two major orders from Equinor and Polenergia to provide an 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 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, and 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 program to develop its offshore wind potential and increase the use of renewables in its electricity mix, which historically is dominated by coal. The government aims to have around 11 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity either operational or under development by 20271.
Hitachi Energy was selected in a competitive procurement process on the strength of its front-end engineering and design (FEED) studies and optimized solutions, its long track record of project execution excellence, and its close working relationships over many decades with Equinor and PSE (Poland’s transmission system operator) and, most recently, Polenergia.
“Integrating large-scale renewable energy sources with the power grid is a key enabler of the energy transition and a field in which we have been a pioneer for decades,” said Niklas Persson, Managing Director of Hitachi Energy’s Grid Integration business. “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.”
These project awards further underscore Hitachi Energy’s position as a global leader in the offshore wind market and the partner of choice for wind farm developers, combining solid experience with grid technologies to help make the world’s energy system more sustainable, flexible and secure by enabling new solutions and business models to be deployed at scale and with speed.
The company has been continuously developing its portfolio to better serve this market with the recent launch of its Grid-eXpand™ range of modular and prefabricated grid connection solutions that make it faster, simpler and more efficient to connect offshore wind farms to mainland grids, and with its complete portfolio of STATCOMs and E-STATCOMs for all power ranges, ensuring grid stability and power quality at all times.
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.