ABB installs DolWin beta HVDC converter in North Sea

ABB has installed 320-kilovolt DolWin2 offshore converter platform for integration with the German grid in the North Sea.

The converter station is part of DolWin2, one of the offshore projects in the DolWin cluster in the North Sea. The DolWin cluster is currently the largest such offshore project in the world.

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The station converts alternating current (AC) generated by offshore wind farms into high-voltage direct current (HVDC) for efficient and reliable transmission to the mainland.

The station is to be operated by transmission system operator TenneT.

According to ABB, the DolWin beta station employs the world’s most powerful offshore converter platform and will integrate 916 megawatts of clean wind energy into the German grid when fully operational.

The power is adequate to meet average requirements of more than a million households

ALSO READ: ABB commissions DolWin1 offshore wind grid project

In July ABB had successfully handed over DolWin1 link to TenneT.

The converter station project is part of the energy transition roadmap of Germany termed “Energiewende”. Under the plan more than 6.5 gigawatts of energy is to be generated from offshore wind by 2020 and 15 GW by 2030.

According to an official statement, the entire platform including substructure weighs about 23,000 tons. It is about 100 meters long, 70 meters wide and 100 meters tall.

“It was transported last year from Dubai, where it was built, to Aibel’s shipyard in Norway. Here, the platform was outfitted and one week ago sailed away to arrive after a short transportation phase of four days at its final destination in the DolWin cluster, 45 kilometers off the German coast,” the statement said.

DolWin beta has a self-installing gravity-based structure (GBS). It means the platform is weighed down slowly to the seabed using water as the ballast within six supporting columns.

The water will then be replaced with gravel to permanently secure the platform.

ABB had been awarded the turnkey responsibility for the design, engineering, supply and installation of the offshore wind connection by TenneT, a leading European transmission system operator.

Besides the converter stations, ABB will also handle sea and land cabling and onshore converter station.

ABB has completed 100 HVDC projects since it pioneered the technology more than 60 years ago and boasts an installed capacity of more than 120,000 MW in its portfolio. It represents about half the global installed base.

Ajith Kumar S

[email protected]