Researchers at The University of Manchester will lead a European consortium to design crucial cable technology that will help achieve the ambition of transferring approximately 17% of total electricity from offshore wind by 2050.
The £5.5 million project, funded by Horizon Europe, will involve a four-year collaboration between Manchester and academic and industry experts from ETH Zurich, the University of Vienna, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, NKT Cable Group, Shell France, Shell Research Ltd, S&B Insurance Advisors, and Arttic Innovation. This initiative aims to develop the enabling technology that supports a sustainable European electricity grid.
Named DCDYNAMIC (Accelerating DC Dynamic Export Cable Technology for a Sustainable European Electricity Grid), the project will consist of three distinct parts. Firstly, understanding how electrical, mechanical, and thermal stresses impact these cables; secondly how to create real-world conditions for reliable testing; and thirdly, construction of a 320 kV high-voltage DC cable prototype, tested at scale using the simulated conditions created through the project.
DCDYNAMIC will be led by , Reader in High Voltage Engineering in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, which houses the UK’s largest academic electrical test and research facility, the . He will be joined by , Professor of Materials Science and Chief Scientist at the , the UK’s national institute for material innovation; and , Reader in Nanomaterials based at the
DCDYNAMIC is one of the earliest Horizon projects since the UK re-joined, with a UK university serving as the lead coordinator.
Project lead, Dr Tony Chen, said: “Being granted European Commission funding as the project coordinator on this scale demonstrates the competitiveness of UK institutions.”
³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ to over 2000 wind farms, and with the largest offshore wind capacity in the world, wind power already plays a leading part in the UK’s energy landscape. This offshore resource provides a range of advantages over its onshore equivalent; farms can be built at a greater scale (the UK currently has the biggest offshore wind farm in the world, Hornsea 1 near the Yorkshire coast), winds are higher and more consistent, and any visual impact concerns are significantly reduced.
