BW Ideol announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Hitachi ABB Power Grids, the world’s leading supplier of grid integration and power quality solutions, for an industry-first collaboration on developing scalable floating substations to support development of profitable commercial-scale floating offshore wind farms with high-capacity wind turbines. Floating offshore wind is the next frontier in offshore wind power. Installed capacity of floating offshore wind installations is forecast to grow from 66 MW in 2019 to at least 6.2 GW in 2030 as more and more countries in Europe, Asia and North America are expected to develop deep-water wind resources. Substations are an essential part of offshore wind farm infrastructure. The power is transmitted by cable from each wind turbine to the offshore substation where it is stepped up to a higher voltage and transferred safely and reliably to the onshore power grid. Hitachi ABB Power Grids will provide modular, scalable, compact substation packages for installation on BW Ideol’s shallow-draft floating platforms. Both companies have worked closely together for several years to co-create a standardized and modular solution that addresses market requirements and the unique demands of operating in the most challenging environmental and seabed conditions.