Dragados Offshore, in consortium with Siemens Energy, are awarded the HVDC converter platforms of both the BalWin1 and BalWin2 HVDC grid connection projects by Amprion Offshore.

The projects are the first of 2 Gigawatt bi-pole converter systems awarded, as part of the transmission of electrical energy generated in offshore wind parks in the German North Sea, part of Germany’s Energy Transition, where Amprion is the transmission system operator responsible for both systems. The two projects are furthermore among the first of the overall 2GW offshore programme to be developed in Northern Europe. The wind farms are connected to both offshore stations via 66 kV AC direct connection systems and convert the power to 525 kV DC voltage for transmission to shore.

The two HVDC onshore stations for BalWin1 and BalWin2 are located at the Wehrendorf and Westerkappeln grid connection points respectively, where they are connected to the 380 kV links yet to be built for the AC transmission grid.

With a total transmission capacity of 4 GW, these converter stations will be sufficient to supply the electricity for a major city like Berlin.

Dragados Offshore is responsible for providing the offshore platforms, including detail design and engineering, procurement, fabrication, construction, load out, transportation, installation and hook-up of the offshore platform, and installation and commissioning of its platform systems. The topsides have a weight of approx. 24.000 tons each and the jackets of approx.. 10.000 tons each. The HVDC systems, as well as the complete onshore converter stations, are the scope of work of our partner Siemens Energy. BalWin1 and BalWin2 are scheduled to be in commercial operation at the end of 2029 and 2030 respectively.

The award of both BalWin1 and BalWin2 is considered a major milestone for Dragados Offshore as these are the first 2 GW HVDC converter station platforms to be developed in the world, and therefore expands our activities for the offshore wind industry, providing low carbon emission projects for the energy market. At the moment of this award, our HVDC project portfolio includes in addition the DolWin6 platform, which is in the offshore completion phase, the BorWin5 platform which is under construction in the yard in Puerto Real (both awarded previously by TenneT) and the DolWin4 and BorWin4 platforms, which are in the design phase, both previously awarded by Amprion Offshore.