McDermott and its consortium partner GE have signed an agreement with TenneT for the award of two HDVC contracts in Germany with a price tag of €4 billion ($4.3 billion). The contract would be awarded in April 2023.
It is part of a wider five-year cooperative framework agreement, under which GER Renewable Energy’s Grid Solutions business secured three high-voltage direct current (HVDC) contracts totaling approximately €6 billion ‘euros ($6.5 billion) as part of a special program formed a consortium with Sembcorp Marine for TenneT’s 2GW program in the Netherlands. The agreement has an extension option for another three years.
The five GE consortia contracts are among 11 two-gigawatt (GW) contracts awarded to HVDC suppliers by the Dutch-German transmission system operator (TSO) as part of its goal to connect 40 GW of wind farms marine in high voltage networks. in the Netherlands and Germany, the GE statement said.
TenneT’s large-scale project was the result of the Esbjerg Declaration in May 2022 at the North Sea Energy Summit, where Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Belgium agreed to jointly install at least 65 GW of offshore wind power by 2030, up from the current 20 GW. – accelerate Europe’s energy security after recent geopolitical developments. TenneT plans to install 20 GW each in the Dutch and German North Seas, GE recalled.
GE further said that the consortium’s projects cover offshore converter platforms and onshore converter stations for bidirectional conversion between alternating current and direct current. The converter stations are based on bipolar VSC (Voltage-Sourced Converter) technology, the most advanced HVDC technology, and will have twice the capacity compared to previous monopole grid connection systems, resulting in fewer cables and platforms.
“TenneT has the technical know-how, scale and geographic position to connect North Sea wind power, while GE and its consortium partners have the expertise in HVDC. Together, with GE’s consortia and others HVDC partners, we will accelerate offshore grid development, thereby strengthening Europe’s energy security and putting Europe on track to become the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050,” said Tim Meyerjürgens, COO of TenneT . .
“Together with our consortium partners Sembcorp Marine and McDermott, we are honored and pleased to play a key role in this critical infrastructure project for European energy security and decarbonisation. These awards confirm that HVDC source converter technology GE’s voltage system is now recognized as one of the most advanced in the world,” added Philippe Piron, CEO of GE Grid Solutions.
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