The 120-ton subsea generator switchgear of the Sotenäs Wave Energy Plant on the Swedish West Coast has been deployed and connected to the Swedish National Grid via a 10 km long subsea cable.
A number of Wave Energy Converters (generators) were also connected to the subsea switchgear and the wave park will consequently go live as soon as the buoys (point absorbers) are connected to the generators.
“This grid connection of a subsea generator switchgear represents a World first” , says Prof. Mats Leijon , Seabased CEO. “We are very happy to have reached this milestone and I wish to thank all our employees and our business partners for their efforts and their support all along the way”
The Sotenäs Wave Power Plant is financed by Fortum, the Swedish Energy Authority and Seabased. Research and development within Seabased is carried out in close cooperation with researchers at the Centre for Electric Renewable Energy Conversion at the Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University. The deployment subsea was done in cooperation with Cecon Contracting AS, Norway.