Funding awarded to two new NorthWind-relevant KSPs

Two new Knowledge-building projects for industry (KSP) linked to NorthWind have been awarded funding this week by the Research Council of Norway.

The first one is called SeaConnect – High voltage subsea connections for resilient renewable offshore grids. It will develop new materials and designs for offshore subsea cable terminations and connectors. These components are currently at the highest risk for failure in the offshore power grid. The project will increase the lifetime of the terminations and connectors by essentially controlling and increasing the interfacial pressure between the components, using a new design principle and tailor-made materials.

The second project is called NewLifT – New liquids for transformers. Transformers are often filled with mineral oil that acts both as electrical insulation and cooling medium. This design has been used for over 100 years and is well understood, but the mineral oil is not biodegradable, which is less than ideal for use in offshore grids, for example. New, promising liquids that are more environmentally-friendly have arrived on the market, but their functionality and limitations have not been identified fully. NewLifT will examine the performance of these new liquids, particularly under varying loads and temperatures – conditions that will be increasingly common as the share of more variable power sources like wind in solar increases.

Both projects are linked to the activities of NorthWind’s work package 3: Electrical infrastructure and system integration. They will be active in the 2022-2026 period.