Comparison of HVAC and HVDC solutions for offshore wind farms with a procedure for system economic evaluation

The potential to harness offshore wind power and transmit that energy to shore is of widespread interest in the electric power and energy industry sector, as well as within U.S. government agencies such as the Department of Energy. Studies are currently being conducted to find optimal placement of offshore wind turbines along the perimeter of the United States coast lines, and evaluations of current technology solutions for transmitting the electrical energy onshore are being investigated. Transmitting high capacities of energy from sea to shore presents a significant challenge due to the need for a very efficient, robust, and reliable technical solution that must be cost effective. High Voltage AC (HVAC) and two forms of High Voltage DC (HVDC), Voltage Source Converter (VSC) based and Line Commutated-Converter (LCC) based, are possible transmission solutions to these challenges. Therefore, we present herein the applicability of these topologies for offshore wind power transmission and present the necessary procedures to select the most cost effective solution for a given application.