On May 18, the topsides of the DolWin alpha converter platform was loaded out from Heerema’s Zwijndrecht fabrication yard at the Drechthaven, located on the river the Oude Maas. This operation marks the start of a journey that the platform will make via Schiedam to its final offshore destination, the DolWin area in German North Sea. Here it will be positioned on top of the already installed jacket in July 2013.
The platform is a crucial part of DolWin1. This offshore direct current grid connection system will have a length of 165 kilometres and a capacity of 800 MW. It is planned to connect three wind farms.
The platform of DolWin1 was built by Heerema Fabrication Group’s Zwijndrecht yard, as a subcontractor of TenneT’s main contractor ABB, who was responsible for the construction of the platform and installation of the complete electro technical equipment using HVDC Light converters as basic technology. The converter platform will be installed in the German North Sea in July 2013 and is one of the main components of the TenneT DC offshore grid connection ‘DolWin1’. The platform is 45 metres wide, 77 metres long and approx. 80 metres high (from the waterline to the top of the crane) and weighs more than 9,000 metric tonnes.
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Press release, May 20, 2013; Image: TenneT