ABB will provide a 800MW power link to German grid operator Transpower to connect more offshore wind farms in the DolWin1 cluster in the North Sea to the German grid.
ABB will use its high-voltage direct current (HVDC Light) transmission technology to transmit power from the 400MW Borkum West II wind farm and other wind farms to be developed nearby.
The wind farms will be connected to an offshore HVDC converter station, which will transmit electricity to the onshore HVDC station at Dörpen on the northwest coast of Germany through 165km of underwater and underground DC cables.
At 320kv, this will be the highest voltage level of extruded cable ever used for HVDC.
ABB will manage system engineering including design, supply and installation of the offshore platform, the offshore and onshore converter stations.
The firm will also supply and install the sea and land cable systems for connecting the wind farms that are to become operational in 2013 and will save emissions of three million tons of CO2 per year.
Currently, wind power meets 8% of Germany’s electricity requirements – a figure it expects to double by 2020.
