Stavanger, Norway: The grid operator TenneT has awarded a major contract to an Aibel/Keppel FELS consortium for the supply of the HVDC platform and onshore converter station of the offshore grid connection project DolWin5. ABB will supply the complete HVDC electrical power system.
Aibel’s scope within the consortium is the engineering and procurement and Keppel FELS’s yard in Singapore will be constructing the converter platform. After transportation from Singapore to Haugesund, Aibel will install ABB’s HVDC conversion equipment, including commissioning, transport and installation of the complete converter platform offshore.
“With this award, we maintain our position as a preferred supplier in the offshore wind segment and strengthen our position in the ongoing energy industry transformation”, says President & CEO of Aibel, Mads Andersen. “Keppel and Aibel have cooperated on a project basis for several years, and we are pleased to jointly land this contract. Equally important is having the opportunity to continue our collaboration with ABB, a valued partnership we have had for almost ten years. It is exciting to see that we now succeed with Aibel’s new platform concept incorporating the latest generation of ABB’s equipment”.
“We are pleased to be selected by TenneT, a leading European transmission system operator, for this large-scale offshore wind project with our partner Aibel. Together with ABB, the consortium is able to provide a comprehensive and cost effective solution for TenneT, says Chris Ong Leng Yeow, CEO of Keppel Offshore & Marine.
Tim Meyerjürgens, COO of TenneT, says: “With DolWin5 we open a new chapter in offshore grid connection technology: For the first time we will realize a direct connection between the wind turbines and TenneT’s offshore platform without any further substations. We are convinced to have found an experienced partner with the consortium of Aibel and Keppel FELS with whom TenneT will be able to accomplish this innovative project successfully.”
Dolwin5 will be installed in the DolWin cluster on the German sector of the North Sea, where the other three DolWin platforms are operating. Among them is DolWin beta, Aibel’s first wind platform delivered in 2015, from which the company has gained valuable experience. It is currently the most powerful offshore converter platform in the world.
Similar to the DolWin beta, the concept utilized in the new platform, DolWin epsilon, is the Aibel patented ‘Gravity Base Structure’ anchored to the seabed by gravity alone. It is developed from Aibel’s long experience from semi-submersible floating platforms for the oil and gas sector.
Facts:
- Scheduled delivery: Q3 2024
- Operated by electricity transmission system operator TenneT
- Will be installed at the DolWin cluster on the German sector of the North Sea
- Will have a capacity of 900 MW from three wind parks
- HVDC (high-voltage direct current) is a highly efficient alternative for transmitting large amounts of electricity over long distances
