| Transmission & distribution
TenneT’s new 2 GW standard for HVDC offshore wind connections
TenneT has launched a tender process for standardised 2 GW offshore wind HVDC connections. The hope is that harmonisation will help accelerate offshore wind deployment and unlock the huge potential of the “North Sea power house”
TenneT is embarking on the tender process for the first of what are intended to be standardised 2 GW connections – platform and HVDC system – for offshore wind. The plan is that the first of these innovative HVDC connections will be deployed in the Dutch IJmuiden Ver wind area. It is expected that a first contract will be awarded by the end of 2022. Recently, the engineering for the land station was tendered and the cable contract is planned to be awarded later in 2021. The first 2 GW IJmuiden Ver connection is planned to be operational in 2028, says TenneT. The European climate objectives are becoming more and more ambitious, observes the Dutch/ German TSO, and “if we want to meet the EU Fit for 55 targets, we need to speed up what we are doing three to four times.” Offshore wind plays a crucial role in the energy transition, it notes, with Europe wanting to connect a total of 60 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and “nothing less than 300 GW by 2050.” Together with partners, TenneT has developed the new 2 GW standard with the aim of accelerating offshore wind deployment. The new standard aims reduce costs and minimise the spatial and environmental impact. The new 2 GW standard represents a doubling of capacity in comparison to the previous de facto 900 MW HVDC standard typically seen in offshore wind connections and almost triple the 700 MW typical of AC offshore wind connections. The “new transmission standard”, says TenneT, “supports the essential next step towards larger offshore wind farms and a North Sea wide European hub-and-spoke system – combining wind power connection, coupling of energy
Basic scheme of TenneT’s standardised 2 GW HVDC offshore wind connection concept
AC ➞ DC
DC ➞ AC
Above: Visualisations of TenneT’s standardised 2 GW AC-to-DC converter platform for offshore wind
markets through interconnection and smart integration into the main onshore grids.” As part of this development, the Dutch IJmuiden Ver projects will be “hub ready”, able to accommodate a future multi-purpose interconnector (WindConnector) to the UK. Marco Kuijpers, director large projects offshore, TenneT, said: “Wind energy from the North Sea plays a crucial role in realising ambitious offshore
WindConnector concept
wind goals for the Netherlands and Europe. Households and certainly heavy users such as industry need to electrify. TenneT’s experience in offshore grid development combined with the expertise and insight of market partners have resulted in the 2 GW grid connection that will play a very important role in unlocking the North Sea power
house...for not only the Netherlands and Germany, but in fact all of Northwest Europe.” In implementing its 2 GW Program, TenneT says it is combining its extensive know-how in offshore grid development with a “unique transnational approach” and has “developed a new offshore standard together with the market.” With the 2 GW Program “we can really unlock the possibilities of the North Sea”, asserts TenneT, “so we can provide Europe and its inhabitants with even more green energy in a safe and cost-efficient way – all with the least environmental impact possible. With the 2 GW Program, we increase the pace and tackle the future of offshore grid expansion through harmonisation. At least six standardised offshore grid connections [by 2030] with a transmission capacity of 2 GW each will strengthen TenneT’s role as driver of the European energy transition in the Dutch and German North Sea.”
www.modernpowersystems.com | October 2021 | 21
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