North Sea Power Platform Completed

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) (Munich, Germany) has delivered the first of five key power connection platforms in the North Sea designed to transmit power from a growing number of offshore windfarms to the mainland.

The BorWin2 platform lies around 100 kilometers (km) off the German coast, north-west of the island of Borkum, and can transmit 800-megawatts (MW) of electricity - enough for approximately one million homes - from offshore windfarms via 200km of undersea cables. Two windfarms will be connected to the platform: Global Tech 1 (400 MW) and Veja Mate (400 MW). Siemens handed over the BorWin2 platform to owner TenneT TSO BV (Arnhem, Netherlands), the Dutch transmission system operator (TSO).

The BorWin2 offshore platform is 51 metres wide, 72 metres long, 25 metres high and, with its base frame, weighs around 16,000 metric tons. Siemens installed the platform in waters around 40 metres deep back in April 2014 and has been testing it with Global Tech 1's 80 turbines in recent months.

"This is the first offshore grid connection worldwide to take up commercial operation with efficient direct-current technology," said Jan Mrosik, CEO of the Siemens Energy Management Division.

Lex Hartman, member of the managing board of TenneT TSO GmbH commented: "The BorWin2 link is a major contribution to the energy transition. The connection's capacity of 800 megawatts is equivalent to the capacity required for supplying one million private households."

Siemens is still working on four other North Sea grid connection projects for TenneT: HelWin1 (576 MW) and HelWin2 (690 MW) off the island of Helgoland, BorWin3 (900 MW) off Borkum island and SylWin1 (864 MW) off the island of Sylt.

TenneT has been embroiled in rows with German offshore windfarm developers over a series of chronic grid connection delays. In late 2012, the German government set out to reduce the delays in getting offshore windfarms built by introducing a bill that would see consumers and grid operators being charged more if there are any more serious delays to getting windfarms constructed and connected to the grid. For additional information, see September 3, 2012, article - German Bill to Drive Offshore Projects.

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