Grid Emulation System

Tender description

ORE Catapult is the UK's flagship technology innovation and research centre for offshore wind, wave and tidal energy. Headquartered in Glasgow, it has world-leading test and demonstration facilities in Blyth, Northumberland and Fife, Scotland. The senior management team is split between Glasgow and Blyth, with extensive technical expertise and knowledge at both locations. ORE Catapult's vision is 'abundant, affordable energy from offshore wind, wave and tide'. We help to reduce the cost of offshore renewable energy, supporting the growth of the industry and creating UK benefit. We do this by: a. Having an experienced engineering and research team with a deep knowledge and understanding of offshore renewables; b. Being an independent and trusted partner; c. Working with industry and academia to identify, prove and de-risk promising new technologies and bring them to market. This is an award notice for the procurement of a fully containerised Grid Emulation System which will be used in the 15MW wind turbine nacelle/powertrain test facility and 3MW marine nacelle/powertrain test facility. The Grid Emulation System will allow ORE Catapult to conduct electrical power quality test and the possibility of accelerated validation of wind and marine renewable energy devices in a controlled environment reducing time to market, improving reliability and mitigating the risks associated with deployment of these devices. The main requirement is for the Grid Emulation System to accommodate, as a minimum a 13MW wind turbine output. The Grid Emulation System will allow the testing of various wind turbine configurations, such as generator with fully rated grid converter, doubly fed induction generator, synchronous generator without fully rated inverter, etc. ORE Catapult is therefore seeking a Contractor that can design, supply, deliver, install, test and commission a Grid Emulation System including cabling and containment at its test facility in Blyth, Northumberland, UK. Funding for this project is likely to come from other third party sources, both private and public eg ERDF, InnovateUK. It has been deemed unsuitable for this to be broken down into Lots, as the integrity of the system may be significantly impacted.