In 2002 the first ever offshore high voltage substation was delivered by HSM Offshore. This was under an EPCI contract from Eltra/Energinet, for the Horns Rev A project, off the Danish West coast. Things have gone from strength to strength since then, as this report to PES shows.
Earlier this year the company signed the EPCI contracts for the TenneT TSO B.V. Borssele Alpha and Beta Substations. It really is remarkable to see the growth in transformer capacity lead to larger topsides and substructures.
Lately we have also seen further increases in inter array and export voltages, as well as significant growth in the supply scope for EPCI contracts.
The Horns Rev A Substation featured a transformer capacity of 160 MW and topside weight of 1,100 mt and was placed on a multiple pile foundation. The Asian Hercules II floating sheerlegs and the IB 909 jack-up were used for the installation.
In 2007 there was another EPCI contract for the same customer, for a 250 MW Substation, featuring 1,300 mt topside and this time, with a jacket weighing 1,000 mt, the installation of both were undertaken by the Matador 3 floating sheerlegs.
The 325 MW Thornton Bank Substation was HSM’s first Substation project in the Belgian sector and featured a 2,200 mt topside, delivered under an EPC contract from ABB for C-Power, a utility company.
HSM were also awarded the Substation for the third phase of the Horn Rev Offshore wind farm, by long-time customer Energinet, in the Danish sector, with 400 MW transformer capacity and 2,400 mt deck weight. The handover was last year.
The current order book comprises 3 Substation projects.
The 450 MW Substation, for DONG Energy’s Borkum Riffgrund 2 Offshore wind farm, is the first one for the German sector and the work features a 2,500 mt topside and a 1,700 mt jacket, which together with the piles, brings the overall weight of this project to almost 5.500 metric tons.
The jacket was delivered and installed earlier this year, whilst the topside is scheduled for sailaway during first half of 2018.
