TenneT has completed the transport of the first three transformers to its 2GW converter station at Maasvlakte in Rotterdam.
The company said the units, each weighing up to 400 tonnes and standing over seven metres tall, were moved approximately 5.5 kilometres from the container terminal to the site on Dardanellenstraat during the night of April 18.
TenneT added that the remaining four transformers, part of a shipment of seven that arrived from Liverpool in February, will be transported in May.
The transformers will process electricity from the IJmuiden Ver Beta and Gamma offshore wind farms at the converter station currently under construction.
The operation required complex logistics, including crossing a railway line with transport combinations approximately 20 metres long and weighing up to 400 tonnes.
The transformers form part of TenneT’s 2GW connections that convert offshore direct current electricity into 380kV alternating current for transmission on the national grid.
The installations use a new generation of high-voltage direct current technology operating at higher voltage levels with additional requirements for cooling and noise reduction.
At the site, the transformers have been placed in their final positions and will undergo further assembly and connection over several weeks, including filling with more than 100,000 litres of insulation and cooling oil per unit.
Commissioning of the installations will take place in phases over the coming years.
Electricity from the system will be supplied to the Rotterdam port area via the Amaliahaven high-voltage substation and support applications including large-scale hydrogen production.