Orah – Netherlands (North Sea)
Case Study: Supporting Offshore Wind Farms with Intelligent Subsea Storage in the Dutch North Sea
Client Overview:
OranjeWind is a wind farm being developed through a joint venture between RWE and TotalEnergies. Located at the Hollandse Kust (West) VII site in the Dutch North Sea, OranjeWind will be a world-first offshore wind farm configuration, with a capacity of approximately 795 MW or 3TWh – enough to power over one million Dutch households annually.
Challenge:
The client required a pilot of an energy management solution to:
- Store excess power during periods of excessive generation
- Reduce curtailment and enable continuous wind power generation
- Integrate seamlessly into a next-generation offshore wind infrastructure
Objectives:
• Enhance overall efficiency of offshore wind energy production
• Enable intelligent energy storage and discharge to match real-time demand
• Deliver long-term economic and environmental value
Solution:
Verlume is supplying RWE with an Orah system, a 500 kWh intelligent subsea battery system that can be scaled to multi-MWh. It will be installed on the seabed and integrated into the OranjeWind offshore wind farm. This will be the world’s first deployment of its kind in an offshore wind configuration.
Key system features:
• Intelligent recharge aligned to turbine energy availability
• Demonstration of the system’s feasibility to promote power stability through grid forming technology
• Energy storage and release which at a larger scale could reduce curtailment and increase output
Orah can help ensure energy is stored when demand is low and efficiently delivered back to the grid during peak periods, supporting project goals of consistent power supply and economic returns.
Deployment:
The project was awarded in 2023 and is scheduled to be fully operational by 2027 at the Hollandse Kust (West) VII site in the Dutch North Sea.
Results (Expected):
• World-first integration of intelligent subsea storage into an offshore wind farm
• Promote the project goal of reduced curtailment
• Enhanced energy output efficiency and increased return on investment long term
Client Feedback:
“We’re pleased to be working with Verlume on this pilot project. The integration of Orah plays an important role in the full scope of system integration solutions we are developing as part of OranjeWind. We look forward to seeing the results.”
Key Takeaways:
• Advanced subsea storage enables intelligent energy balancing
• Demonstration of the feasibility to enhance power stability through grid forming technology
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