Keppel O&M makes offshore wind comeback with convertor station deal

Singapore-based Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd has secured its first renewable energy contract since 2010, having been awarded a contract for the DolWin 5 converter stations in partnership with Aibel.

A consortium comprising Keppel Offshore & Marine’s subsidiary Keppel FELS Limited and Aibel in Norway secured the contract from TenneT Offshore GmbH, the grid operator in the Netherlands and Germany, for the design, engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning of a 900-MW offshore high-voltage direct-current converter station and an onshore converter station.

Together with subcontractor ABB the consortium will also undertake the installation and start-up operations of the offshore and onshore converter stations on site in Germany.

Scheduled to be completed in 2024, the converter stations will be part of the DolWin cluster servicing offshore windfarms in the German sector of the North Sea. The offshore converter station will be located approximately 130 km from the onshore converter station.

Keppel O&M chief executive Chris Ong said, “This is Keppel O&M’s first major project of this scale and extends our track record in supporting the renewable energy industry. We see opportunities in this segment as the offshore renewables market is expected to increase significantly.”

The offshore converter station is a 900-MW gravity-based structure based on Aibel’s patented design and will be equipped with living quarters, a helideck and cranes. When completed, it will receive power from three offshore windfarms and convert high-voltage alternating current to high-voltage direct current before sending it to the onshore converter station via subsea cables. The onshore converter station will then convert the HVDC back to HVAC and transmit to the grid.

TenneT chief executive Tim Meyerjürgens said, “With DolWin5 we are opening a new chapter in offshore grid connection technology. For the first time we will realise a direct connection between the wind turbines and TenneT’s offshore platform without any further substations.”