TenneT probes market for offshore cable systems

Transmission system operator TenneT has issued a periodic indicative notice to carry out the market investigation on the planned procurement of cable systems to connect wind farms in Cluster 3 in the German North Sea to the DolWin kappa offshore platform.

TenneT Offshore GmbH has invited all potential and interested market participants to express their interest in the planned market investigation for the DolWin 6 HVAC Cable Systems that will connect the DolWin kappa platform with the wind farms in the N-3.7 and N-3.8 zones in Cluster 3, and to provide an overview of the current status of the planning documents.

This market investigation is part of a possible, subsequent procurement project, TenneT said, adding that participation is only open for applicants who have experience in the field of sea cable manufacturing and/or -installation.

Participants should provide feedback with regards to their available capacity as well as their preliminary interest in participating in the upcoming tender, without any obligation to participate. The deadline for the submission of the feedback is 15 July.

The tender is scheduled for November 2022, and the expected date for the commissioning of these cable systems is July 2026.

The 900 MW transmission link DolWin6 will connect several offshore wind farms in Cluster 3, including Ørsted’s Gode Wind 3.

This will be TenneT’s 13th offshore grid connection system in the German North Sea for the transmission of wind energy from sea to land. It will be connected to the grid in 2023.

The N-3.7 and N-3.8 sites are located some 30 to 40 kilometres north of the island of Borkum. They were put out to tender for a combined capacity of 658 MW in February 2021.

In September 2021, Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) selected RWE Renewables to develop a 225 MW wind farm in the N-3.7 zone, and EDF Renewables to develop a 433 MW project in the N-3.8 zone. Both developers had submitted zero-subsidy bids.

However, Nordsee Two GmbH, a subsidiary of Canada’s Northland Power and RWE Renewables, held the so-called step-in right for the N-3.8 zone which allowed this developer to match EDF Renewables’ winning bid in the auction and secure the lease for the 433 MW German Nordsee Two offshore wind project.