• Fourth direct current grid link now in commercial operation
• Transmission capacity of 690 MW enough to supply nearly 900,000 German households
• Further milestone achieved for the German government’s offshore development targets
• Four Siemens platforms with total of 2.9 GW transmission capacity linked to the grid
With HelWin2, Siemens has handed over the fourth North Sea grid link to the customer TenneT. This marks the start of commercial operation of the grid connection by the German-Dutch transmission grid operator. All in all, there are now four Siemens grid links with a transmission capacity of over 2.9 gigawatts (GW) installed in the North Sea which together are capable of supplying around four million German households with electricity. The offshore platform HelWin2 alone, which has just gone online, can transmit up to 690 megawatts (MW) of green electricity, enough to supply nearly 900,000 German households. The offshore platform of the HelWin2 link is located about 85 kilometers off the northwest coast of the island of Helgoland from which it takes its name. The connected wind farm will be successively expanded and connected with Siemens wind turbines of the 3.6 megawatt class, with additional turbines being linked in practically every day.
“This year we’ve completed the first four offshore grid links of this performance class in the world using efficient direct current technology. Thanks to Siemens technology, nearly four million German households can be supplied with wind power generated offshore,” said Tim Dawidowsky, CEO of the Transmission Solutions business unit within the Siemens Energy Management Division. “The completion of HelWin2 marks an important milestone for us. Step by step we are implementing the offshore development goals set by the German government”, declared Lex Hartman, member of the managing board of TenneT. “The goal of the German government is to have 6.5 gigawatts of offshore wind power capacity installed by 2020. TenneT has already achieved more than 50 percent of this target.”
