Siemens is erecting HelWin 2, the link between the North Sea offshore windfarm Amrumbank West and the onshore grid. The customer is TenneT TSO GmbH of Bayreuth, Germany.
The grid connection, designed as a high-voltage direct-current transmission link, has a rating of 690 megawatts (MW) and is scheduled to be operational by 2015. Amrumbank West will be built in the North Sea, about 55 kilometers from the mainland, 35 kilometers north of Helgoland, and 37 kilometers west of the North Frisian island of Amrum. The wind farm will have a power capacity between 300 and 400 MW. Together with the Meerwind and North Sea East offshore windfarms, Amrum­bank West is part of the North Sea cluster HelWin.

 

Siemens will supply the world’s largest voltage-sourced converter (VSC) offshore system with a rating of 864 MW for the SylWin1 project. Siemens’ HVDC PLUS link will connect the Dan Tysk wind farm to the German shore. The converter will be installed on an offshore platform, where the voltage level will be stepped up and converted to ±320 kV DC. The platform will accommodate all electrical equipment required for the HVDC converter station: two transformers, four AC cable compensation reactors, and high-voltage gas-insulated switchgear (GIS). Similar to the BorWin2 and HelWin1 projects, the Siemens wind power offshore substation (WIPOS®) will be designed as a floating, self-lifting platform. The energy will be transmitted via subsea and land cable to Büttel, where an onshore converter station will reconvert the DC to AC and feed it into the 380 kV AC grid.

 

Siemens Energy has been contracted by RWE Innogy in August 2010 to supply the offshore substation for their wind farm „Nordsee Ost“ project which is going to be located in the Northsea 33 kilometers northeast from the island Helgoland in Germany. The offshore substation is provided at a platform which is going to be installed on a 39 m high steel structure. The offshore AC substation collects the generated 295 MW wind power. It allows high voltage AC power supply by transferring the voltage from 33 kV to 155 kV via transformers. Subsea cables will transmit the wind power to HVDC platform "HelWin".

 

For the project HelWin1, Siemens will be supplying a voltage-sourced converter (VSC) system with a rating of 576 MW using Siemens HVDC PLUS technology. The wind farms Nordsee Ost and Meerwind are designed to generate 576 MW and will be connected through a Siemens’ HVDC PLUS link to shore. The converter will be installed on an offshore platform, where the voltage level will be stepped up from 155 to 250 kV and then converted to DC at the same voltage level. The platform will accommodate all the requisite electrical high-voltage AC and DC equipment for the converter station. Similar to the Borwin2 project, the Siemens wind power offshore substation (WIPOS) will also be designed as a floating, self-lifting platform. Energy will be transmitted via subsea and land cable to Büttel, northwest of Hamburg, Germany, where an onshore converter station will reconvert the DC back to AC and transmit it into the grid.

 

For the BorWin2 project, Siemens will supply the voltage-sourced converter (VSC) system – using Siemens HVDC PLUS technology – with a rating of 800 MW. The wind farms Veja Mate and Global Tech 1 are designed to generate 800 MW and will be connected through Siemens’ HVDC PLUS link to shore. The converter will be installed on an offshore platform, where the voltage level will be stepped up from 155 to 300 kV AC and then converted to DC at the same voltage level. The platform will accommodate all the requisite electrical equipment for the HVDC converter station, two transformers, four AC cable compensation reactors and high-voltage gas-insulated switchgears (GIS). The Siemens wind power offshore substation (WIPOS) will be designed as a floating, self-lifting platform. Energy will be transmitted via subsea and land cable to Diele close to Papenburg, where an onshore converter station will reconvert the DC back to AC and feed it into the 400 kV AC network.

 

The Gwynt y Môr project, situated in the Liverpool Bay area around 18 kilometers off the English northwest coast, will have a generating capacity of 576 MW upon completion. The project will be developed by a joint venture between RWE Innogy, Stadtwerke München, and Siemens. Siemens will be responsible for connecting the wind farm to the grid as well as delivering all 160 Siemens 3.6 MW class wind turbines. The turbines will be installed in water depths between 15 and 30 m. The grid connection of Gwynt y Môr will consist of two offshore substations, each equipped with two 33/132 kV 160 MVA transformers. In order to meet grid code requirements, Siemens will install two ±50 MVAr SVC PLUS systems for reactive power compensation as part of the onshore substation connection.

 

The Lincs project, a wind farm owned by Lincs Windfarm Limited, whose shareholders include Centrica, DONG, and Siemens, will be located in the Greater Wash region approximately eight kilometers from Skegness, Lincolnshire, UK. Lincs will have a generating capacity of 270 MW employing 75 Siemens 3.6 MW wind turbines installed in water depths of between eight and 18 meters. In addition to supplying the wind turbines Siemens will be providing performance studies and constructing the offshore substation topside housing two 33/132 kV 240 MVA transformers as well as the onshore AC substation for this project. This contract award follows the successful commissioning of Centrica’s Lynn & Inner Dowsing offshore wind farms, for which Siemens also provided the grid connection.

 

Situated 24 kilometers from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, the development of this project will upon completion of phase one and two generate 1,000 MW of green power and will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm when it is energized in 2012.

In phase one, two offshore substations will be delivered to collect the 630 MW of power generated by 175 Siemens wind turbines before transferring the power to shore via the main 150 kV export cables.

Siemens is the design-build contractor responsible for the overall electrical design of the grid connection providing performance studies, the equipment for two offshore substations, the complete onshore substation, and reactive power compensation.

 

Roughly 25 kilometers off the coast of Suffolk, 140 Siemens wind turbines, 3.6 MW each, will produce carbon-free electricity. Two 33/132 kV offshore Siemens substations with two 90 MVA transformers on one and three 180 MVA transformers on the other will help export the electricity through three three-phase 132 kV XLPE submarine cables. Near the network point-of-coupling to the grid in the village of Sizewell, Siemens is also installing a reactive power compensation device, which allows the wind farm to meet the requirements of the UK grid code.

 

A project 11 kilometers off the Kentish coast, consisting of one hundred 3.0 MW wind power units, produces electricity for Vattenfall UK. Siemens supplied the 33 kV / 132 kV offshore substation station for this project, equipped with two 180 MVA transformers, and the onshore substation including two SVC PLUS compensation systems. Siemens also ensured compliance with grid code, carried out performance studies, and provided the onshore cable system.

 

A few kilometers off the Lincolnshire coast 54 Siemens 3.6 MW wind turbines produce electricity for Centrica Renewable Energy Ltd. Two 100 MVA transformers are at the heart of the 33/132 kV onshore substation that receives the generated electricity through three 33 kV XLPE subsea cables. Siemens supplied the substation and the onshore cable system as well as grid, design, and performance studies for the wind farm.

 

About seven kilometers off the Swedish coast, 48 Siemens wind turbines, each with an output of 2.3 MW, produce electricity for Vattenfall AB, a leading Swedish power provider. The 33/138 kV Siemens substation with its 120 MVA transformer is located within the wind farm footprint. Power transmission to the onshore grid is accomplished with a three-phase 138 kV XLPE subsea cable connecting the wind farm with a substation in the town of Bunkerflo.
Siemens also performed extensive design and performance studies for the entire project.