TenneT pre-qualifying for Hollandse Kust West Beta subsea cable tender

TenneT has invited applications to qualify for a tender that will be launched in February 2021, when the Dutch transmission system operator will seek a subsea cable supplier for the Hollandse Kust West Beta platform.

The scope of the contract will include the design, engineering, production, delivery, and installation of 220 kV AC sea cables that will connect the offshore platform with a substation on land. The scope may include 220 kV AC land cable and a 66 kV subsea cable.

Deadline for submitting applications to qualify for the tender is 12 November, with the tender expected to be launched on 26 February 2021.

Along with the 3.5 GW of offshore wind capacity agreed in 2015, TenneT will connect another 6.1 GW of offshore wind energy to the Dutch high voltage grid between 2024 and 2030. This includes the wind energy areas Hollandse Kust West, Ten Noorden van de Wadden, and IJmuiden Ver.

The transmission system operator plans to build several platforms to connect the offshore wind farms to the onshore grid through HVAC subsea cables. The platforms within one area will be connected by a 66 kV cable, as part of redundancy requirements, and will carry high-voltage switching and transformation equipment of 220 kV, as well as auxiliary facilities.

Intake power from the wind farms will be 66 kV and export power from the platforms will be 220 kV, with each platform connected to the onshore grid by two three-core 220 kV AC subsea cable circuits and, if applicable, by single-core 220 kV AC land cables. 

The Hollandse Kust West Beta platform is one of the two that will connect the wind farms from the Hollandse Kust West area in the North Sea to the grid on land, the other being Hollandse Kust West Alpha.

The 700 MW Hollandse Kust West Beta will be linked to the high-voltage substation near Beverwijk and will enter operation in 2025, the year after the Alpha platform is put into service.

Earlier this year, when TenneT selected the ENGIE Fabricom – Iemants joint venture to construct the offshore substation for Hollandse Kust Noord, the joint venture was also named the preferred contractor for the Hollandse Kust West Alpha and the Hollandse Kust West Beta platforms.