Alstom, with whom Nordic Yards will be working for the first time, was awarded the tender by transmission grid operator TenneT Offshore GmbH.
DolWin gamma is the fourth high voltage direct current (HVDC) transformer platform in Nordic’s order book. The offshore platform consists of two components – the topside and the foundation. The 55m wide topside contains the Alstom transformer equipment, workshops, living quarters and machine rooms.
Installed in the North Sea, the steel structure raises itself out of the water using a hydraulic system. After this process is complete, the platform is ready to become a transformer station at sea, 20m above the water’s surface. The foundation lies at a depth of almost 30m.
Grégoire Poux-Guillaume, president, Alstom Grid, said: “The cooperation between Nordic Yards and Prysmian Powerlink, two companies with outstanding reference projects, is the key to mastering this task.”
The total value of the contract for the transformer platform and the transmission cable, which is provided by Italian energy cable provider, Prysmian Powerlink, is over €1bn. In addition the construction, Nordic Yards also includes the complete basic and detailed design package, transport and installation at sea.
Once complete, the subsidiary platform will feed 900MW of renewable energy from windfarms in the German North Sea in to the German power grid.
