Transmission systems operator TenneT and Siemens have held a topping-out ceremony for the Emden/Ost converter station, part of the 900MW BorWin3 grid connection project.
The land station Emden/Ost is an essential element for the grid connection of offshore wind farms, TenneT said.
With the BorWin3 project a high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission will be realized from offshore wind farms to the high voltage grid in Emden.
This 160km long grid connection will link several wind farms off the coast of Lower Saxony to the mainland. The 155kV alternating current supplied by the wind farms will be transformed into 320kV direct current on the BorWin gamma offshore platform.
The BorWin3 link will transport power via cable over 130km at sea and a further 30km on land to the grid feed-in point in Emden. The direct current will then be converted back into alternating current for further transmission and distribution.
BorWin3 is one of the twelve offshore grid connection projects that TenneT has commissioned.
A consortium between Siemens and Petrofac was contracted by TenneT to design, build and install the 900MW Offshore HVDC converter platform BorWin gamma. The platform will be installed in the German Exclusive Economic Zone in the North Sea, 130 kilometres off the coast, at 40 metres water depth.
Siemens will supply the HVDC transmission technology, while its consortium partner, Petrofac, will be responsible for the construction and installation of the platform.
Petrofac contracted Dubai’s Drydocks World to construct the platform. About one quarter of the steel structure has been completed so far, according to TenneT.
The entire BorWin3 project is due for completion in 2019.