German-Dutch grid operator Tennet has commissioned the 900MW BorWin3 offshore grid connection.
BorWin3 is Tenne’s twelfth offshore grid connection and takes the transmission system operator’s offshore transmission capacity in the North Sea to just over 7GW, exceeding the German government’s target for the North and Baltic Seas of 6.5GW by 2020.
The project will connect EnBW’s 497MW Hohe See and the 400MW Global Tech 1 offshore wind farms to the German grid.
Tennet chief executive Tim Meyerjurgens said: “To push the energy transition, further efforts are needed.
“According to all international studies and scenarios, the current rate of development in Europe is not enough for offshore wind to reach the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement for Europe. An accelerated, large-scale and internationally coordinated expansion is necessary.”
In addition to the grid connection projects BorWin1 and BorWin2, BorWin3 is the third project commissioned by Tennet off the coast of Borkum that uses direct current transmission technology.
At Emden/Ost in Germany, Tennet has built a converter station with a substation to feed the energy generated at sea into the extra-high voltage grid on land, covering a total distance of 160km, including a 130km submarine cable.
The power via the submarine cable is transported to Hamswehrum and to the west of Borkum, and from there is transmitted via a 30km underground onshore cable to Emden/Ost.
Petrofac and Siemens acted as the main contractors for the project.
BorWin3 comprises a Siemens HVDC topside.
Prysmian supplied, installed and commissioned the offshore cable connection and Heerema Marine Contractors transported and installed the jacket.