TenneT has reached a milestone in the development of its 900MW German offshore grid connection system BorWin5.
The BorWin epsilon converter platform, which will connect to EnBW’s He Dreiht offshore wind farm in the North Sea, was lifted onto its foundation – the jacket – last night.
With a weight of 12,300 tonnes – twice the weight of the Eiffel Tower – and the height of a 16-storey building, the platform is now firmly anchored at sea and almost ready for use.
After connecting the subsea cable to the platform, trial operation will begin.
The BorWin epsilon converter platform is the starting point of the BorWin5 grid connection system.
Wind energy generated at sea will flow to the 900MW converter platform via a 66kV three-phase cable.
The BorWin epsilon converter platform will convert the three-phase current from the wind farm to direct current.
This will then be transported to the mainland via a 120km long subsea cable, where it will be converted back into three-phase current and fed into the extra-high-voltage grid.
BorWin5 is the fourth project that TenneT is implementing off the coast of Borkum using extra-high voltage direct current transmission technology.