Amprion has submitted documents for the public planning procedure for the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) section of the DolWin4 and BorWin4 offshore grid connection systems off Germany.
Cable installation is expected to begin in 2025.
Amprion Offshore will use the grid connections to connect offshore wind farms in area three (DolWin4) and area six (BorWin4).
As these are located in the so-called EEZ they are the responsibility of the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) in Hamburg.
For the section between the wind farms and the so-called 12 nautical miles zone, Amprion has now submitted the approval documents to the BSH for a “completeness” check.
The extensive documents take into account both the installation of the submarine cables and the installation of the converter platforms in the immediate vicinity of the wind farms to be connected.
The platforms collect the alternating current generated in the wind farms and convert it into direct current for transport on land.
The application documents contain, inter alia, a pre-design of the planned platforms.
Amprion developed it together with several experienced manufacturers in order to identify essential features of the project and the corresponding ideal standard design.
Amprion projet manager Mario Bechmann said: “Over the past two years, our experienced planners have dealt extensively with special requirements regarding nature conservation, shipping and fishing in the EEZ.
In addition, we have coordinated closely with the authorities and other public agencies. I am sure that we have presented a good result.”
Once the completeness has been certified, the “competent authority” is expected to initiate the public planning procedure at the end of the summer.
Amprion said it hopes to receive the public planning approval decisions before the large platforms and cables are awarded.
The largely parallel running offshore grid connection systems DolWin4 and BorWin4 are scheduled to go into operation in 2028 and 2029.