TenneT is inviting tenders for sea and land stations for the first three German 2GW grid connections in the North Sea off Lower Saxony.
The contracts for BalWin1, BalWin2 and BalWin3 totalling 6GW of capacity have a combined order volume in the seven-digit range and are expected to be awarded in the third quarter of 2023.
Effective immediately, bidders can qualify for the tender process, TenneT added.
The first three German 2GW projects will offer more than twice the transmission capacity of the 900MW systems that have been common in Germany to date.
Since this will allow the same amount of electricity to be transmitted with only half as many grid connections, it will be possible to conserve important resources and minimise environmental impacts, TenneT said.
Harmonising the systems in terms of technology and planning will also make it possible to put additional grid connections systems in place even faster than before.
In this way, the 2GW Program will make wind energy from the North Sea scalable and the supply of green electricity more cost-efficient, the company said.
TenneT chief operating officer Tim Meyerjürgens said: “The 2GW Program will be a key pillar of our offshore strategy while helping to advance the energy transition in Europe more quickly and efficiently.
“After a successful launch in the Netherlands and with the call for tenders for the converter stations of our BalWin projects, we are now also putting grid expansion in the German North Sea on course for climate neutrality.”
The call for tenders encompasses the newly developed offshore platforms, the land stations, and the associated equipment for the new two gigawatt high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission technology.
As part of the 2GW Program, at least six offshore grid connection systems – each with a transmission capacity of 2GW of wind energy from the North Sea – are to be built in Germany and the Netherlands by 2030, with three of them being in the German BalWin cluster off the coast of Lower Saxony.
With a total capacity of 6GW, BalWin1 (completion 2029), BalWin2 (2030) and BalWin3 (2030) are expected to contribute 20% the raised offshore expansion target of Germany’s new federal government by 2030.
Together, BalWin1+2+3 will bring green electricity from sea to land for approximately 7.5 million households.
TenneT is planning at least three more projects off the coast of the Netherlands with a combined total of 6GW.