The Scottish government has set an ambitious target for renewable energy resources to meet 100 % of the country’s gross annual electricity consumption by 2020. A key role will be played by large onshore wind farms such as the 88 MW Kype Muir array, where Nexans has just completed a project to provide a 16 km, 132 kV underground grid connection for SP Energy Networks.
With a total capacity of over 10 GW, Scotland’s renewable electricity generation sector is now over three times bigger than it was at the end of 2008. Onshore wind is the biggest single renewable technology, accounting for over 74 % of installed capacity. The Kype Muir wind farm comprises 26 turbines and is a flagship development for the Banks Group. It is located around 5 km from the town of Strathaven in South Lanarkshire.
A key element in the wind farm project is the 16 km underground cable connection required to link the new 132/33 kV SP Energy Networks substation at the Kype Muir site with the existing Coalburn 400/132 kV grid substation. SP Energy Networks awarded the contract for this connection to Nexans France based on its capability to meet a challenging project timescale of just eight months, including delivery of services – design, manufacture, and delivery of the cable, civil works (excluding duct installation), cable laying, design and supply of the cable accessories, jointing and commissioning.
To provide the three individual phases for the grid connection, Nexans has supplied a total of around 50 km of cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) insulated cable with an aluminium conductor and an aluminium welded sheath. The accessories include six FEV outdoor terminations and 60 cross-bonding joints with associated link boxes.
Mike Rintoul, head of Project Delivery at Nexans commented: “We are … delighted to have further enhanced our working relationship with SP Energy Networks from our UK office in Edinburgh, after the successful execution of a similar wind farm project at Kilgallioch and other recent substation projects at Wishaw, Windyhill and Maentwrog.”
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