Transmission system operator TenneT has gone to market for its first 2GW offshore wind connection system in the Dutch North Sea.
The company is seeking both the supply of the platform and HVDC system for the Ijmuiden Ver projects offshore wind project.
It is expected that this contract will be awarded by the end of 2022.
Recently the engineering for the land station was tendered and the tender for the cable contract will follow later this year.
The first 2GW IJmuiden Ver connection is planned to be operational in 2028.
TenneT director of offshore development Marco Kuijpers said: “Wind energy from the North Sea plays the crucial role in realising the ambitious offshore wind goals for the Netherlands and Europe. Households and certainly heavy users such as the industry need to electrify.
“TenneT’s experience in offshore grid development combined with the expertise and insight of market partners have resulted in the 2GW grid connection that will play a very important role in unlocking the North Sea Power House as the source of sustainable energy for not only the Netherlands and Germany, but in fact all of Northwest Europe.”
The new 2GW standard aims to further reduce the costs of offshore wind and to minimise the spatial and environmental impact, said TenneT.
The standard will more than double the capacity in comparison to the previous 900MW HVDC set-up and almost triple the 700 MW AC configuration.
As part of the Dutch development, the IJmuiden Ver projects will be hub ready to connect a future multi-purpose interconnector (WindConnector) to the UK.