€2.5 billion contract signed for offshore converter platform

Neptun Smulders Offshore Renewables (NSORe) and Siemens Energy have won a €2.5 billion contract to build and install an offshore converter platform in the German North Sea.

The converter will be connected to the 2GW LanWin 3 offshore wind farm that will generate power for the German grid.

Siemens Energy is responsible for supplying the high-voltage converter technology and NSORe will engineer, procure, build, install and commission the platform and its associated structural systems.

The delivery scope covers the complete implementation of the offshore facility, including overall system design, component procurement, fabrication, offshore and onshore installation activities, integration and commissioning. The project therefore combines high-voltage electrical engineering with large-scale offshore structural engineering, marine construction and heavy-lift installation.

A key element of the platform is the topside, which houses the converter equipment and associated electrical, mechanical and auxiliary systems. The main building and other major topside components will be fabricated at Neptun Werft in Rostock-Warnemünde. The use of the shipyard enables the platform’s large and complex modules to be assembled in a controlled industrial environment before transport and offshore installation.

The supporting steel substructure, or jacket, will be manufactured by Smulders at its shipyard in Vlissingen, the Netherlands. The jacket provides the structural interface between the topside and the offshore foundation and is designed to withstand the environmental and operational loads acting on the converter platform throughout its service life.

The LanWin3 and LanWin6 systems are also being integrated into the wider German HVDC network through the NordOstLink (NOL) transmission corridor and a multi-terminal hub at Heide in Schleswig-Holstein. This architecture allows the offshore converter systems to form part of a larger, interconnected HVDC transmission system rather than operating as isolated point-to-point connections.

NSORe, headquartered in Rostock, is a joint venture between Neptun Werft, part of the Meyer Werft Group, and Belgian offshore construction specialist Smulders, a subsidiary of the French Eiffage Group.