The 900 MW DolWin epsilon platform is getting ready to sail into the German North Sea, the transmission system operator (TSO) TenneT announced on 28 May.
After three years of construction at Seatrium’s shipyard in Singapore, the 82-metre-long platform has covered approximately 13,000 nautical miles to Norway in 60 days. There, the structure received its final technical equipment at the Aibel shipyard over the past one and a half years.
Preparations are now underway to transport and install the DolWin epsilon platform in the German North Sea, where it will convert renewable electricity generated from an offshore wind farm as part of the 900 MW DolWin5 grid connection, allowing it to reach the mainland via submarine cables.
From there, the renewable energy is transported to consumers via the onshore transmission grid.
The Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm, developed by Ørsted, will be connected to the DolWin5 grid connection. The project features 83 Siemens Gamesa 11 MW turbines .
DolWin5 uses extra-high voltage direct current transmission technology. The three-phase alternating current (AC) generated by the offshore wind farm is converted into direct current (DC) at DolWin epsilon and transported south to Hamswehrum near the river Ems in East Frisia via a 100-kilometre-long subsea cable.
From Hamswehrum, a 30-kilometre-long onshore cable leads to the converter station in Emden/East where the DC is converted back into three-phase AC and fed into the extra-high voltage grid on land.