Cordal Windfarm

Cordal

Windfarm

Electrical Design for a Contestable Build 110kV Eirgrid and IPP Substation

The Challenge

Cordal Windfarm in Co. Kerry involved the development of 28 No. 3.2 MW GE Turbines and associated electrical infrastructure. Working closely with Suir Engineering, NeoDyne was appointed as Electrical Designers for the Contestable Build 110kV Eirgrid and IPP Substation. Our responsibilities included electrical layout design; specification of transformers, switchgear and harmonic filters; planning of associated control and protection panels; and earthing and lightning protection. We also undertook grid code compliance studies for the wind farm, a pre-requisite to becoming operational.

Our Approach

We designed the Eirgrid 110 kV AIS substation for double busbar with an allowance for ten 110 kV bays. The design also consisted of a 120 MVA feeder to an IPP substation, a 63 MVA DSO transformer and eight 38 kV AIS bays for cable connection to remote windfarms. The IPP substation consisted of a 120 MVA transformer, harmonic filter, 33 kV windfarm switchgear and associated substation control and protection panels.

Our design activities included:

Electrical Layout Design
110 kV, 38 kV and 33 kV Switchgear Specifications
110/38 kV and 110/33 kV Transformer Specifications
Harmonic Filter Design
Control and Protection Panels Design
Windfarm 33 kV Cable Network Design

Eirgrid and IPP Substation Building LV design
Substation and Turbine Earthing Design
Lightning Protection Design
Insulation and Protection Coordination Design
Grid Code Compliance Studies and Sub-metering Design
Factory Acceptance Testing of Equipment

We used EPLAN, leading-edge electrical engineering software for the planning and documentation of the control and protection systems and CDEGS software for the earth potential rise and lightning protection study.

About Cordal Windfarm

Cordal Windfarm in Co. Kerry provides renewable energy from 28 GE wind turbines with a grid capacity of 90MW. Commissioned in 2017, the wind farm is currently operated by Statkraft and owned by Cubico Sustainable Investments, one of the world’s leaders in renewable energy.

Given NeoDyne’s long-standing expertise in substation design and renewable technologies, we were appointed Electrical Designers for the wind farm development project.

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Customer Requirements

AIS and IPP Substation Electrical Design
Specification of transformers, switchgear and harmonic filters
Design of control and protection panels
Earthing and lightning protection
Grid Code Compliance

Challenges

Design of substation to fit within existing planning constraints
Design of harmonic filter to reduce harmonics from the windfarm
Use of “Point on Wave” (PoW) circuit breaker to overcome transformer energisation effects
Multiple registered market units requiring individual circuit sub-metering
Impact of change in site level to the electrical arrangement design