German transmission system operator Amprion has put together a new unit to deliver two offshore substations with a combined capacity of almost 2GW for wind farms in the North Sea.
The two projects, which include offshore platforms, transmission cables and onshore converters, are slated for completion in 2028 and 2029, respectively, and will total 1.88GW.
The connections would service wind farms in the N-3.5 and N-3.6 clusters, plus projects in the N-6.6 and N-6.7 clusters, an Amprion spokeswoman said.
Both offshore platforms would be connected to the Hanekenfahr substation in lower Saxony state to help power western Germany and provide relief to the network in the country’s north.
Amprion operates the Hanekenfahr substation, so it is therefore obliged to build the new offshore connections under German law.
The first, 900MW system would have a track length of about 220km, while the second, 980MW system would have a track length of around 300km.
Amprion is sketching plans following a draft decision on an “area development plan”, or FEP, issued on 26 October by the Federal Office for Maritime Shipping and Hydrography, also known as BSH.
A final decision on whether Amprion will be tasked with building the connections would be made with the publication of the final FEP plan in mid-2019, the spokeswoman said.
A decision would also be contingent on the publication of the 2019 version of Germany’s 2030 network development plan, or NEP, expected by the end of 2019.