TenneT seeks geotechnical investigation services for three IJmuiden Ver platforms

Dutch transmission system operator (TSO) TenneT has launched a new tender for geotechnical soil investigation at the IJmuiden Ver (IJV) offshore wind area, looking for the work to be carried out at three locations that will house offshore transformer stations.

In February, the TSO invited bids for geotechnical soil investigation for IJmuiden Ver Alpha and IJmuiden Ver Beta, with a possibility to invoke the option for IJmuiden Ver Gamma platform.

The latest tender includes the services to be delivered at all three platform locations.

With the deadline for applications set to 25 May, the tender winners will be awarded a twelve-month contract worth EUR 5.5 million.

The three locations at IJmuiden Ver have been identified as suitable to progress the design and installation requirements for offshore high voltage substations. The geotechnical soil investigation must provide relevant information about the soil to a depth below which a possible existence of weak formations will not influence the safety or performance of the high voltage substations, TenneT said in the tender notice.

The TSO plans to install 2 GW direct current connections at the IJmuiden Ver wind farm zone to transfer electricity generated by offshore wind farms to the Dutch grid. This will be the first time high voltage substations of that capacity are used on an offshore wind project.

The substations will be connected to the onshore grid via 525 kV export cables, another industry’s first, for which TenneT opened a qualification period a few days ago, in preparation of the first upcoming cable supply and installation tender to be launched in Q3/Q4 of this year.

The 4 GW IJmuiden Ver is one of three areas identified by the Dutch Offshore Wind Energy Roadmap 2030. The three areas have a combined capacity of 6.1 GW and are expected to help the Netherlands reach the target of 11.5 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030.

The wind farms at these new areas are expected to be commissioned between 2024 and 2030.