Fabrication Starts on Germany’s First 2 GW Offshore Grid Connection System

March 3, 2025, by Adnan Memija

The first steel has been cut for BalWin4, Germany’s first 2 GW offshore grid connection, at Sangsangin Ship Machinery’s factory in South Korea.

The fabrication of the foundation for the topside that will later bring renewable energy from the North Sea to Germany has started.

According to Daniel Birkenstock, project director at TenneT, this is the start of production of steel panels, which will be shipped after production to Batam, Indonesia, where McDermott International will assemble the topside.

McDermott International is responsible for the design, fabrication, installation, and commissioning of the offshore converter substation platforms for two 2 GW HVDC grid connection systems, BalWin4 and LanWin1, under a contract signed with TenneT in 2023.

The commissioning date for BalWin4 is 2029, while LanWin1’s fabrication, installation, and commissioning follow a year later, reaching completion in 2030, according to the company.

The consortium of Jan De Nul, LS Cable, and Denys will realize the cable connections in Lower Saxony, to BalWin4 and LanWin1, both to be connected in Unterweser area, and LanWin5 in the Rastede area, Germany.

The platforms’ main objective is to convert up to 2 GW of offshore wind-generated electricity from 66 kV alternating current to 525 kV direct current to facilitate efficient electricity transmission to the onshore station.