German and Norwegian Businesses Share Information on Offshore Grid Connections

- German offshore businesses visit DolWin beta in Norway to see the world’s most powerful floatable HVDC converter platform

Bremerhaven - About 40 representatives of German businesses are visiting Norway to find out more about the construction of HVDC converter platforms in Germany’s North Sea. They are attending a two-day study tour from 19 to 21 November 2014 organised by the offshore industry network WAB.

Together with transmission systems operator TenneT Offshore, technology company ABB, and Norwegian equipment and services company Aibel, the WAB Wind Energy Agency has organised an industry meeting for the extensive sharing of experience relevant to the grid connection of offshore projects. This exchange is ongoing between Germany’s offshore wind energy industry and actors in Norway’s offshore wind, oil and gas industries.

The visit kicked off with a conference in Haugesund (Norway) attended by about 50 european international experts in the offshore wind, oil and gas industries and members of the WAB study tour. Wilfried Breuer, director of offshore operations for TenneT Offshore, Peter Sandeberg, Head of Technology and R&D for ABB Offshore wind connections, and Ronny Meyer, managing director of WAB, together opened the conference. Ronny Meyer explained: “Offshore wind energy is a pillar of the energy turnaround. Offshore wind energy is also a driver of industrial innovation, and the DolWin beta converter station is a fine example of this.”

Themes of the conference are: direct current grid connections from Norwegian oil and gas platforms; the NordLink offshore power cable between Norway and Germany. Currently being realised, the NordLink subsea cable system will be more than 600 kilometres in length. German businesses are presenting their expertise in operating and maintaining the ten converter platform now under construction. In the evening, participants also have the opportunity to share information during a festive dinner. The highlight after the conference is a tour through DolWin beta, the world’s most powerful offshore DC converter station. Erling Matland, deputy CEO and EVP Renewables at Aibel, and Rik Stapel, project manager for platforms at TenneT, are providing information to participants on the challenges posed by the DolWin beta project.

Nearly 1,800 workers have been employed since June 2012 in the construction of DolWin beta. The topside was placed on the steel construction in December 2013 and an accommodation unit for 24 service technicians weighing 500 tonnes was also installed. The construction has a total height of 90 metres. Technology company ABB, who also has the responsibility for the complete offshore wind connection project, has equipped the platform, which boasts a transmission capacity of more than 900 megawatts, with the electrical engineering needed. This includes gas-insulated switchgear and transformers, endless rows of switchboards, and the heart of the station: its converter valves. These convert alternating current to direct current. When fully equipped, the platform will weigh more than 20,000 tonnes. The installation of the floatable converter platform is scheduled for 2015 when it will be towed to its installation site 45 kilometres off the North Sea island of Norderney to a water depth of 29 metres. Once it begins operating, the station will convert alternating current from about 240 wind turbines in the Gode Wind 1 and 2 and the Nordsee One projects, with a total of 900 MW capacity, into direct current.


The WAB Wind Energy Agency is the leading business network for the wind energy industry in Germany’s northwest region and is the national point of contact for the offshore wind energy sector in Germany. The association counts more than 350 businesses and institutes among its members, who are active in all areas of the wind energy and maritime industries as well as in research.


Bremerhaven, 21 November 2014


Publication and Reprint free of charge; please send a voucher copy to
WAB e.V..


Attention editorial offices: For further questions please contact

Media contact:
Ronny Meyer, Managing Director WAB
E-Mail: mailto:ronny.meyer@wab.net
Tel: +49 (0)173 / 7946082


WAB e.V.
Barkhausenstraße 2
27568 Bremerhaven


WAB on the Internet: http://www.wab.net
on Twitter: https://twitter.com/WABWindnetwork
on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wab.net
OTS: WAB e.V. Newsroom: http://www.presseportal.de/pm/57611/wab-e-v
via RSS-Feed: http://www.presseportal.de/rss/pm_57611.rss2

---

Press release from the Renewable Energy Industry delivered by Renewable Press
Please note: The emittent / publisher »DE224506414« is responsible for all contents.