Three Companies to Build Land Stations for TenneT’s 2 GW Projects Offshore Netherlands

February 22, 2023, by Adnan Memija

Dura Vermeer, BAM Infra Nederland, and Visser & Smit Bouw have signed a framework agreement with Dutch-German transmission system operator TenneT for civil engineering works for the construction of the land-based stations for the 2 GW offshore projects in the Netherlands.

From 2024, TenneT plans to realise the connection of offshore wind farms according to a new 2 GW standard.

With this new standard, the power generated by offshore wind farms will be brought ashore via a High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) connection. Land stations are the link between wind farms and the high-voltage grid.

At the land stations, the direct current is converted to alternating current and the voltage is transformed from 525 kV to 380 kV, making it suitable for the Dutch high-voltage grid, TenneT said.

Dura Vermeer, BAM Infra Nederland, and Visser & Smit Bouw will realise the buildings and building-related installations for these land stations. Until 2030, this involves the realisation of at least eight land-based stations.

The basic design of the land stations has already been made.

“By working jointly on the designs, we can make choices at a much earlier stage. This contributes to the standardisation of the concept and ensures that we will face fewer surprises later in the process”, said Marco Kuijpers, Director Large Projects Offshore TenneT.

Work on the units is expected to start in 2024 with the first delivery of the civil engineering work to commence in 2026.

The framework agreement can be extended for new 2 GW projects that are announced within the term of the contract.

In September last year, TenneT announced a large-scale high voltage direct current (HVDC) cable tender for offshore grid connections in the German North Sea and the Dutch North Sea.

The tender is part of TenneT’s EUR 30 billion drive to connect 40 GW of new offshore wind capacity in Germany and the Netherlands by 2030.

Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Belgium agreed to install at least 65 GW of offshore wind energy together by 2030. At 40 GW, almost two-thirds of this is accounted for by TenneT, with 20 GW each in the German and Dutch North Seas.