DNV GL has signed a four-year framework agreement with TenneT to provide project certification for new HVDC substations linked to offshore wind farms in the German North Sea.
Project certification will be performed according to the BSH Standard Design, in order to verify compliance with requirements of the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency, DNV GL said.
The agreement includes the certification of the planned DolWin5 converter platform which will link to the Borkum Riffgrund West 1 and 2 and Northern Energy OWP West wind farms.
DolWin5 will connects turbines directly to the offshore platform via 66kV cables, removing the need for separate substations for each wind farm, DNV GL said.
The platform is planned to start operations in 2024.
TenneT chief operating officer Tim Meyerjurgens said: “This connection concept leads to an enormous cost reduction for the wind farms and the grid connection.
“With the 66kV direct connection, we have developed a new generation of cost-efficient offshore grid connections for the German North Sea that will make an important contribution to the transformation of energy systems.”
DNV GL executive vice president for renewables certification Kim Mork said: “With the framework agreement DNV GL and TenneT are partnering in qualifying this new connection technology in Germany.
“We are already involved in over 80% of German offshore wind projects and are committed to helping the global offshore wind industry to verify new products and technologies that improve the cost effectiveness of wind power and enable the clean energy transition.
“To this end, we continue to write and define new standards to enable the certification of new technologies.”