The DolWin beta converter platform left Aibel's yard in Haugesund, Norway. Following a four-day transport stage, the platform will be installed in the DolWin wind cluster in the German North Sea.
DolWin beta will be operated by transmission operator TenneT, and will have a capacity of 916 MW of power from three wind parks counting more than 200 turbines. The platform concept is based on experience from the oil and gas sector, and has been developed and adapted to requirements in offshore wind industry. Aibel's concept may be used in wind parks with a sea depth between 15 and 45 m. The actual platform has a deck area of 70 x 100 m.
“Renewable energy is a focus area for Aibel. DolWin beta is our first wind platform, and thus represents a breakthrough for Aibel,” says CEO of Aibel, Jan Skogseth. He emphasizes that the company has gained valuable experience from the process, which will be useful in future projects. The project has been completed with excellent HSE results.
Aibel is subcontractor to ABB, who is the general contractor for TenneT, and has designed and built the conversion platform. The actual construction was carried out in Dubai before the platform arrived in Haugesund, Norway, in August 2014. Aibel provides the platform with all auxiliary systems, while ABB provides the HVDC converter systems and subsystems.
Katharina Garus
ABB achieved an important project milestone by installing Dolwin beta, the world’s most powerful offshore converter station in the North Sea. The 320-kilovolt converter station, housed on an offshore platform, has a 916 megawatts (MW) power transmission capacity, making it the world's most powerful installation of its kind, enough to power more than 1,000,000 households with clean energy.The offshore converter station is part of the DolWin2 project which will be operated by transmission system operator TenneT and will connect offshore wind farms in the North Sea’s DolWin cluster, currently the largest offshore wind farm cluster worldwide, with the German grid.ABB installs Dolwin beta - world's most powerful offshore converter platform in the North Sea
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