Converter platform DolWin gamma installed at sea

Thursday, 20 July, 2017 - 10:00

Now installed, the converter sits 66 feet above the waves. (Photo: TenneT)

TenneT and GE have successfully installed the DolWin3 offshore converter station in the south-western German North Sea, approximately 80 kilometers from land.

The converter platform left Warnemünde in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and underwent a 6 day journey along the German and Danish coastlines to reach its final destination, which was only made possible in good weather. Tugboats — one pulling and two helping steer and brake — moved the converter station, which weighs around 18,000 tons, from the Baltic Sea dock westward out into the German North Sea. Once at the location, a special installation ship used hydraulics to lift the block onto a platform that sits on 18 pylons that have already been drilled into the sea floor.

The project, awarded to GE as the main contractor by the transmission system operator TenneT, will connect two wind farms, which will be able to supply over one million German households with clean power. The converter will harness power from as many as 180 wind turbines, including 66 GE Haliade 150-6MW wind turbines in the Merkur wind farm, in the North Sea. It will be sending 900 MW of power back to shore.

Wilfried Breuer, TenneT Member Executive Board, said: “The converter platform is one of the biggest visible indicators of the German energy transition. Flagship projects like DolWin3 are crucially important to transfer wind energy from the north to power customers and to make sustainable energy a reality.”

Patrick Plas, General Manager, HVDC and FACTS, Grid Solutions from GE Power, added: “DolWin3 is GE’s first offshore HVDC project. The technology represents a crucial turning point for offshore wind, renewables, and how we are able to move that energy efficiently from where it is being generated to the customer, with significantly lower losses over long distances.”

DolWin3 is the tenth out of twelve grid connections to be implemented by the German transmission system operator TenneT.

TenneT / GE / Funke

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