North American Windpower: German Power Grid Set For Big Boost From Offshore Wind

in News Departments > Projects & Contracts

by Laura DiMugno on Tuesday 02 August 2011

A high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission system is in the works that will connect offshore wind farms to the German electric grid.

For the project, called DolWin2, Switzerland-based power and automation technology provider ABB will supply the approximately $1 billion power link to Dutch-German transmission-grid operator TenneT to connect wind farms in the North Sea to the mainland grid in Germany, ABB said in a statement announcing its involvement in the project.

The HVDC system is rated at over 900 MW, and electrical losses will not exceed 1% per converter station, according to ABB, which will design, engineer, install and supply the offshore platform, offshore and onshore converter stations, and land and sea cable systems.

The power link will transport power from wind farms - including the 400 MW Gode Wind II project - to an offshore HVDC converter station. That electricity will then be transmitted to the onshore HVDC station in Dorpen, Germany, via 45 km of DC sea cable and 90 km of land cable to an HVDC onshore station, which will feed the electricity to the mainland grid, ABB explained in the statement.

The company expects the offshore wind network to come online in 2015 and provide wind-generated electricity to more than 1.5 million households.

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