50Hertz has selected a consortium that includes Siemens Energy and Neptun Smulders Offshore Renewables (NSORe) to construct a converter system for the 2GW North Sea Connector 2 offshore grid connection project.
The offshore converters will be placed in the North Sea, roughly 200km west of the German island of Sylt.
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This project will involve both an offshore platform and an onshore station.
The consortium will handle the complete implementation and turnkey delivery of the installations, covering system design, component procurement, construction, onshore and offshore installation, and commissioning.
The onshore converters will be developed at a new substation in Mühlenbeck near Schwerin, Germany, which will serve as the endpoint for the NordOstLink high-voltage direct current connection between the North Sea and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
North Sea Connector 2 includes the LanWin6 offshore grid connection and the DC32 link, both part of the NordOstLink project.
Meanwhile, negotiations are under way with NSORe for an additional converter platform of similar scale, which, if awarded, would bring the total value to around €2.5bn ($2.8bn).
Siemens Energy is tasked with providing high-tech components such as transformers, switchgear and converters to shift alternating current (AC) to direct current.
Once converted, electricity will be transmitted to shore via subsea cables, before being switched back to AC at an onshore converter station for grid integration.
50Hertz CEO Stefan Kapferer said: “As the transmission system operator for eastern Germany, Berlin and Hamburg, we are pleased that, in a transparent and open tendering process, a consortium was able to prevail both in terms of price and technology and will manufacture key components at a shipyard within our control area.
“This demonstrates that domestic shipyards are now capable of offering competitive bids for the construction of offshore platforms.”
Neptun Smulders Offshore Renewables is a partnership between Neptun Werft of the Meyer Werft Group and Belgian steel company Smulders, a subsidiary of Group Eiffage, with a site in Rostock-Warnemünde, Germany.
Neptun Werft will build the topside, the platform’s main structure that houses the transformers, switchgear and converters. Most of the fabrication will take place in Rostock.
These contracts will create more than 500 long-term jobs in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania for the companies and their suppliers.
Siemens Energy’s scope for the project will see around 95% of its work carried out in Germany. It expects the full order to be booked in the fiscal year starting 1 October 2026.
Smulders will construct the jacket foundation at its shipyard in Vlissingen, the Netherlands.
North Sea Connector 2 is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2034.
The second project, North Sea Connector 1, is due to continue manufacturing at the Rostock-Warnemünde and Vlissingen sites.
Its onshore converter will also be located at the new Mühlenbeck grid point.
