GERMANY – TenneT is launching a tender for the sea and land stations for three 2 GW offshore grid connections it is constructing in the North Sea off Lower Saxony.

The call for tenders encompasses the newly developed offshore platforms, the land stations, and the associated equipment for the new 2 GW high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission technology.

The contracts for the BalWin1, BalWin2 and BalWin3 projects have a combined order volume in the seven-digit range and are expected to be awarded in the third quarter of 2023. Effective immediately, bidders can qualify for the tender process.

The first three projects in Germany will be part of TenneT’s transnational 2GW Program. Featuring 2 GW per system, the new offshore standard should offer more than twice the transmission capacity of the 900 MW systems that have been common in Germany to date. The new offshore standard set by the 2 GW Program should significantly accelerate Europe’s energy transition, TenneT said in a press release.

“The 2GW Program will be a key pillar of our offshore strategy while helping to advance the energy transition in Europe more quickly and efficiently,” says Tim Meyerjürgens, Chief Operating Officer of TenneT. “After a successful launch in the Netherlands and with the call for tenders for the converter stations of our BalWin projects, we are now also putting grid expansion in the German North Sea on course for climate neutrality.”

As part of the 2GW Program, at least six offshore grid connection systems are to be built in Germany and the Netherlands by 2030, with three of them being in the German BalWin cluster off the coast of Lower Saxony.

With a combined six gigawatts, BalWin1, BalWin2 and BalWin3 will meet 20% of the expansion targets for offshore wind by 2030 set out in the coalition agreement of Germany's new federal government, TenneT said in a press release.

The three projects in the German North Sea should supply around 7.5 million households with green offshore electricity.

Source: TenneT