THE NETHERLANDS — Royal Smit has manufactured two power transformers for TenneT’s Hollandse Kust (north) offshore wind platform.

TenneT is connecting a total of eight new offshore wind areas to the national high-voltage grid on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. In order to bring the power from those wind turbines ashore, TenneT will build various 'sockets at sea' in the coming years. The heart of all those platforms are two large transformers.

TenneT itself is responsible for purchasing the high-voltage equipment and systems, including the transformers. According to Arthur Rondeel, project leader for system integration of the high-voltage installation, an identical design has been chosen that will be used on all TenneT platforms.

The transformers are specially built for use in offshore platforms, including a compact design, TenneT said in a press release. Production took place at Royal Smit Transformers in Nijmegen, after which this new type was tested at KEMA Laboratories. A little further on in the Gelderland capital, the offshore connections will soon be monitored and controlled remotely from TenneT's national operational center.

The two transformers for the Hollandse Kust (north) platform have been tested and are ready to be lifted into the topside of the platform. They will be shipped from Royal Smit's production location in Nijmegen to the ENGIE Fabricom yard in Antwerp/Hoboken.

The platform for Hollandse Kust (north) will soon have a capacity to bring 700 MW of green electricity ashore.

Source: TenneT