Economic Comparison of VSC-HVDC and HVAC Systems for Connections of Offshore Wind Farms

Abstract:

Large-scale offshore wind power has been developed in recent years, and two possibilities are considered for the transmission system between the offshore wind farms and the onshore grid: VSC-HVDC and HVAC. The paper aims to compare both systems for 300MW offshore wind farms, 25 km, 50km and 75km from the Point of Common Coupling on an economic basis using a DCF(discounted cash flow) analysis. A linear fit to the net present values has been made, obtaining the break-even distance of 47km. When the transmission distance is shorter than 47km, the HVAC system is more economic, otherwise the VSC-HVDC system is a more cost-efficient option.

• Periodical: Applied Mechanics and Materials (Volumes 672-674)
• Pages: 325-330
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.672-674.325
• Online since: October 2014
• Authors: Jian Zhang*, Xin Long Zheng, Guo Zhi Chen, Zhi Gang Zhang, Bei Bei Xu
• Keywords: DCF, Economic Analysis, HVAC, Offshore Wind Power, VSC-HVDC

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