WIND: India’s Crompton Greaves adds value to Offshore Machines

 

Offshore wind costs more than twice of onshore. Finding innovative solutions is most important to make it competitive. India’s CG is one such big contributor. It has devised a way to move all the moving parts from the substation and put them onshore, where maintenance is much easier and cheaper, dramatically improving the reliability and cost effectiveness of the offshore farm.

One such solution has been devised at the Belwind wind energy farm off the coast of Belgium. One of Europe's largest and deepest offshore projects. If proven successful, it could turn out to be a revolution in offshore wind model by eliminating one of its greatest downsides: the expense of the maintenance of offshore parts.

CG participated in Belwind as part of a consortium consisting of steel fabrication firm Lemants, installation and maintenance services major Fabricom and CG’s system division. The design, procurement and construction of the high-voltage substation was CG's sole responsibility, as was connecting it to the electricity grid.

CG has been marching across Europe with a string of acquisitions in recent years. Beginning with its 2005 acquisition of Pauwels, the Belgium-based power transformer maker, it has bought companies in the power systems sector in Hungary, Ireland, France and, most recently, in Britain. It thus already accounts for 30 per cent of the distribution transformer market for renewable energy in Europe.