50Hertz stays on track with Ostwind 2 offshore wind grid connection

The final section of the second of the three 220 kV export cable systems for the Ostwind 2 project is being laid in the German Baltic Sea, 50Hertz Transmission GmbH said.

Around 170 kilometres of export cables have been laid at sea and on land over the past months to connect two offshore wind farms to the German extra-high-voltage grid so far. Now the last section of the submarine cable is being laid on schedule to complete the second of the total of three 220 kV cable systems, the transmission system operator said.

”Five years ago we announced that we would complete the two cable systems in 2021. Back then, we moved forward ambitiously – and today we can say: we show results! Our Ostwind 2 project is right on schedule. Taking into account that we had to do pioneering work in many places to develop the Baltic Sea as a German offshore wind location, this target was certainly ambitious in 2016. The fact that we are now reaching this crucial milestone as planned not only shows to our project partners that you can rely on 50Hertz,” said Stefan Kapferer, CEO of 50Hertz.

The work is being carried out by a consortium of NKT and Boskalis. NKT is supplying some 270 kilometres of 220 kV high-voltage AC XLPE offshore export cable, and eight kilometres of 220 kV high-voltage AC XLPE onshore cable. Boskalis is in charge of the installation of the cables.

Ostwind 2 will connect the 257 MW Arcadis Ost 1 and the 476 MW Baltic Eagle offshore wind farms in Lubmin to the German extra-high-voltage grid.

The wind farms are located between 20 and 30 kilometres northeast off the island of Rügen. Two export cable systems lead to the Baltic Eagle wind farm, and one cable system to the Arcadis Ost 1 wind farm.

The installation of the third cable system, which is already in production, will begin in 2022, 50 Hertz said.

The Belgian offshore wind farm operator Parkwind will operate the Arcadis Ost 1 wind farm. Parkwind and 50Hertz will operate a joint offshore platform for the wind farm. The installation of the platform in the Baltic Sea will take place next summer, according to 50Hertz. The two companies agreed on this in a memorandum of understanding in 2019.

The cross-border cooperation was also the focus of the visit of Flemish Prime Minister Jan Jambon and a Flemish delegation to 50Hertz’s headquarters in Berlin last Friday.

”We are pleased about the visit of the Flemish Prime Minister to Germany. This is a good opportunity for Parkwind to talk about our first German offshore wind farm Arcadis Ost 1, which will be built with a capacity of 257 MW in the German Baltic Sea. With ten years of experience in the Belgian market and with the support of strong partners such as 50Hertz and DEME Offshore, Parkwind is able to deliver a highly innovative project that sets a new standard for offshore wind power,” said Clément Helbig de Balzac, Project Manager of the Arcadis Ost 1 project at Parkwind.

Arcadis Ost 1 is located in the West of Arkona cluster. The wind farm is situated some 20 kilometres off the Rügen island. It will comprise 27 Vestas V174-9.5MW wind turbines slated for commissioning in 2023.

Baltic Eagle, the project of the Spanish energy company Iberdrola, is located in the Arkona Sea cluster. The wind farm is located some 30 kilometres off Rügen, and about 90 kilometres off Lubmin and the onshore substation on the Greifswalder Bodden.

Iberdrola has also chosen the Vestas V174-9.5 MW model for the Baltic Eagle. The wind farm is scheduled to be operational in 2023.