Specialist and offshore shipping company Jan De Nul has secured two contracts for the BalWin4 and LanWin1 wind farm systems.
Jan de Nul and consortium partners LS Cable & System and Denys have signed the contracts for two 525 HVDC cable systems for the two grid connection systems, it has now been confirmed.[ds_preview]
These are the first two contracts signed under the long-term framework agreement signed by TenneT and Jan De Nul earlier this year. The projects include the design, manufacture, transportation, installation and testing of three 525 kV cable systems for the connection of offshore wind farms to the onshore grid via the “BalWin4” and “LanWin1” grid connections.
Jan de Nul deploys special vessel “Fleeming Jenkin”
Jan De Nul will take care of the transportation, installation, burial and protection of the offshore cables. The company will deploy a number of specialized vessels and installations, including the “Fleeming Jenkin”, the recently ordered XL cable-laying vessel. LS Cable & System will design, manufacture, terminate and test all cables, while Denys will be responsible for pulling in the cables associated with the onshore cable routes. In total, more than 1,000 km of HVDC cables will be designed, manufactured, transported, installed, protected and tested for these two projects.
Wouter Vermeersch, Head of Offshore Cables at Jan De Nul Group, said: “This is an important milestone in supporting TenneT’s 2GW program and building the energy transition. We look forward to working with TenneT and our partners to deliver these projects in the challenging environment of the North Sea.”
The projects are part of TenneT’s 2GW program. The cable systems of the two grid connections BalWin4 and LanWin1, which come from the offshore converter stations, will cross the Wadden Sea and be connected to the extra-high voltage grid in Unterweser. The grid connections will enable renewable electricity from offshore wind farms with a total transmission capacity of 4 GW to be fed into the German grid.
BalWin4 and LanWin1 are part of the 2GW program. With its transnational approach and a new standard for offshore grid connection systems, the 2GW program aims to drive forward the European offshore grid expansion and secure the energy supply for Europe. The total of 14 offshore grid connections of the 2GW program are to supply up to 35 million households with green wind energy.
The XL cable-laying vessel “Fleeming Jenkin”, an Ultra Low Emission Vessel (ULEv) with a carrying capacity of up to 28,000 tons, will be responsible for transporting and installing the 525 kV HVDC offshore cables. The two power cables, the metallic return cable and a fibre optic cable will be installed simultaneously using the three carousels and the fibre optic tank on board the “Fleeming Jenkin”.
In addition to the ULEv technology, the ship is equipped with hybrid engines that can run on both biofuel and green methanol. The 2.5 MWh battery and propulsion technology optimizes energy consumption on board.
