Drydocks World to construct 2GW offshore grid connection in German Baltic Sea

Dubai-based Drydocks World, in partnership with GE Vernova, has secured a contract to build and install Ostwind 4, a 2GW offshore wind grid connection that will power nearly 2m German households.

The contract was awarded by 50Hertz, the transmission system operator for eastern Germany. Ostwind 4 will connect Baltic Sea wind farms to the national grid using high-voltage direct current (HVDC) technology. This will mark Germany’s first deployment of a 525-kilovolt HVDC transmission system in the Baltic.

Located 30 km northeast of Rügen Island, the project includes the construction of offshore and onshore converter stations and a 110-kilometre DC cable system linking land and sea.

Drydocks World, part of the DP World Group, will manage the EPCI part of the wind energy converter stations’ topsides and jacket structures. The topside, fabricated at Drydocks World’s Dubai facility, will integrate equipment designed and manufactured in Europe. Once completed, the platform will be transported and installed in German waters.

GE Vernova will supply the HVDC technology, including voltage-sourced converters, transformers, SF6-free gas-insulated switchgear, civil works for the onshore converter station, and grid automation equipment.

The design of the offshore converter station includes a U-shaped jacket substructure supporting offshore wind energy production for decades.

“This is pioneering work. We want to ensure that the entirety of the technically and economically viable offshore wind energy potential in the Baltic Sea is exploited, primarily with the help of direct current technology. One prerequisite for this is the creation of legal and regulatory conditions that enable wind farms in the waters of other EU states to be connected to the German transmission grid,” said Stefan Kapferer, CEO of 50Hertz Transmission.