EnBW has initiated the installation of the first submarine cable as part of the internal park cabling for the He Dreiht offshore wind farm, set to connect all 64 turbines across the 960MW project.
The cable installation work was awarded to Seaway7, with two specialized installation vessels tasked to lay and secure approximately 100 kilometers of cable on the seabed of the North Sea by summer. Once the cables are laid, they will be pulled into the foundations of the wind turbines and connected.
JDR, the cable manufacturer, produced the 66 kilovolt submarine cables in the United Kingdom. These cables will eventually link to the converter platform of transmission system operator TenneT, which is scheduled for installation at sea this summer. The platform will convert the generated electricity from alternating current to direct current, and the power will then be transmitted ashore via two high-voltage direct current export cables.
The He Dreiht wind farm, located approximately 85 kilometers northwest of Borkum and 110 kilometers west of Heligoland, is being developed without any government subsidies, according to EnBW. The total investment for the project stands at around €2.4 billion, with project coordination based out of EnBW's offshore office in Hamburg.
At peak times, more than 500 workers are involved in the construction, supported by over 60 vessels. Last year, the foundations for the wind turbines were installed, and the installation of the latest generation of Vestas wind turbines, each with a capacity of 15MW, will begin in the spring of this year.
“With He Dreiht, EnBW is contributing significantly to the expansion of renewable energy in Germany, with a capacity that will supply electricity to around 1.1 million households,” said a company spokesperson.
The project is one of the major steps in EnBW's efforts to increase the country's offshore wind energy capacity and transition to greener energy sources.
