THE NETHERLANDS – Hollandse Kust (Zuid) Alpha, TenneT’s high voltage connection for Vattenfall’s offshore wind farms Hollandse Kust (Zuid) I and II is ready for use.

Following Tennet’s successful installation and energization of the offshore grid connection, the wind farm developer Vattenfall can now connect the wind turbines to the high voltage grid. TenneT received the ‘Grid Readiness’ certification from DNV GL for Hollandse Kust (Zuid) Alpha on March 22, the TSO said in a press release.

“Hollandse Kust (Zuid) Alpha is the first connection of an offshore wind farm to the Maasvlakte and has a capacity of 700 MW,” said Marco Kuijpers, Director of Large Projects Offshore. “The energization of Hollandse Kust (Zuid) Beta later this year will add another 700 MW from wind farms Hollandse Kust (Zuid) III and IV.”

Over the past years, the contractor Petrofac has been working on the fabrication of two HVAC transformer stations (topsides)– Alpha and Beta – at the Drydocks World fabrication yard in Dubai. The Alpha topside was installed on the jacket in the North Sea off the coast of The Hague in December 2021, while the sister Beta topside was successfully installed by the offshore company Allseas this week.

When the wind farm area Hollandse Kust (Zuid), is fully operational in 2023, it should generate an amount of renewable energy equivalent to the annual consumption of more than two million households. Hollandse Kust (Zuid) is the first subsidy-free wind farm area in the world, TenneT said in a press release.

By the end of 2023, TenneT plans to construct 3,500 MW grid connections for offshore wind farms in the Dutch North Sea.

The first 1,400 MW has been realized with the delivery of Borssele Alpha and Beta in 2019 and 2020. Hollandse Kust (Zuid) Alpha and Beta, installed and energized this year, will be followed by Hollandse Kust (Noord) in 2023. TenneT is using five identical 700 MW transformer platforms for these wind farms. These platforms are located close to the wind farms and all five use the same type of 220 kV cable connection to the coast.

Towards 2030, the Dutch and German governments will set new targets for offshore wind. The Dutch government recently announced new areas and targets with a total installed capacity of 20,7 GW around 2030. New offshore wind targets will soon be announced in Germany.

Source: TenneT