Germany: Nordic Yards Starts Construction of Third Offshore Transformer Platform

Construction starts on the SylWin alpha offshore transformer platform at Nordic Yards, manufacturer of innovative special ships and major maritime projects for the offshore wind and other industries. The first steel blank cut was made in the presence of representatives of the client, Siemens Energy, and the end customer, TenneT, at the Rostock-Warnemünde yard. 

SylWin alpha is the third offshore transformer platform to be built by Nordic Yards for Siemens Energy. Three of the six offshore HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current) transformer platforms currently being built worldwide can be found at Nordic Yards – which makes the shipyard group world market leader in the manufacture of transformer platforms.

The topside, the actual platform, and the jacket, the foundation, will be manufactured and optimised at the two yards in Warnemünde and Wismar. With an overall height of approximately 80 metres, a width of 56 metres and a length of over 82 metres, SylWin alpha is not only larger than the two platforms under construction, BorWin beta and HelWin alpha, it is the largest platform of its type to be built so far.

The transformer platform will be installed in the North Sea, about 70 kilometres west of Sylt, and will transform and transmit to the German mainland up to 864 megawatts of energy generated by the DanTysk and Butendiek wind farms.

“This day marks an important milestone in the further development of Nordic Yards’ competence in the offshore field. Because of the size and extended scope of this project, SylWin alpha is even more complex and challenging than its predecessors. We are looking forward to a continuing excellent working relationship with Siemens and TenneT,” says Vitaly Yusufov, owner and Managing Director of Nordic Yards.

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Offshore WIND staff, May 3, 2012; Image: Nordic Yards