Hitachi Energy and Petrofac have secured a second project under a $14 billion, multi-year framework agreement with the Dutch-German transmission system operator (TSO) Tennet to expand offshore wind capacity in the North Sea.
This second contract is for Nederwiek 1, a Dutch transmission station which forms part of TenneT’s landmark 2GW program.
Under the terms of the agreement, Petrofac will perform the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) of offshore platforms and elements of the onshore converter stations.
On the other hand, Hitachi Energy, as global technology partner, will supply its high-voltage direct current (HVDC) converter stations, which convert AC to DC power offshore and DC to AC onshore.
The project is to be executed as a standalone project, with Petrofac’s portion of the second contract valued at around $1.4 billion.
John Pearson, COO of Energy Transition Projects at Petrofac, said: “The award of Nederwiek 1 continues our focus on the standardization and harmonization of design and execution that will be central to the ‘design one, build many’ philosophy of the 2GW Program.
“By aligning ourselves with TenneT’s objectives, we are creating a blueprint for the rapid deployment of large-scale infrastructure projects crucial to Europe’s energy transition.”
Since the signing of framework agreement in January, the partners have been collaborating closely on preparatory works, reserving production capacity for multiple platforms and HVDC technology and initiating the detailed design process for the first platform awarded under the agreement, Ijmuiden Ver Alpha.
Additional projects within TenneT’s 2GW Program are expected to be awarded at approximately six-month intervals. These are the grid connections landing at Geertruidenberg or Moerdijk (Nederwiek 3) and Eemshaven (Doordewind 1 and Doordewind 2). The sixth project, the German connection LanWin5, will be connected near Rastede, Germany.
