50Hertz and Parkwind Sign German Baltic Sea Pact

50Hertz and Parkwind have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on the technical aspects of the Ostwind 2 grid connection project in the German Baltic Sea.

The essential aspects of the MoU include specific agreements for the development, procurement, construction and operation of the shared offshore platform, Ostwind 2, covering basic technical details and principles for the division of the construction costs. The shared platform will connect the Arcadis Ost 1 offshore wind farm, being developed by Parkwind in the Baltic Sea, with the German transmission grid.

Additionally, the parties align on further aspects such as their respective programmes and the future agreements to be entered into in the interest of the joint offshore platform. This single platform is explicitly foreseen as a part of the official grid development plan (Bundesfachplan Offshore) and is to be used by both the wind farm operator and the 50Hertz, the responsible Transmission System Operator (TSO) for connecting the offshore wind farms in the German Baltic Sea.

Ostwind 2 is the 50Hertz project to connect the Baltic Sea wind farms Arcadis Ost 1 and Baltic Eagle to the German high voltage grid.

Arcadis Ost 1is located in the cluster Westlich Arkonasee. Baltic Eagle, the project of the Spanish utility company Iberdrola, is located in the cluster Arkonasee. Both areas are located between 20 and 30 kilometers northeast of the island of Rügen in the German Baltic Sea. Together, the two wind farms are expected to generate an output of around 725MW.

50Hertz plans to build three submarine cable systems (OST-2-1, OST-2-2 and OST-2-3) with a voltage level of 220kV and a total capacity of 750MW to deliver this output.

The necessary permits for the Ostwind 2 project have already been obtained for the onshore cable route, the coastal sea (12nm zone) of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and an approximately five-kilometer section in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). 50Hertz is currently obtaining the necessary permits for the remaining section of the cable route in the EEZ.

The connection to the German extra-high voltage grid takes place at the grid connection point in the Lubmin substation in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Here the electricity is transformed to 380kV and fed into the 50Hertz transmission grid.