GE Vernova and Drydocks World secure contract for Germany's first 525kV HVDC offshore wind project

GE Vernova and Drydocks World have secured the contract to build and install Ostwind 4, a two-gigawatt (GW) offshore wind grid connection designed to power nearly two million German households.

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 kilometers 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 will manage the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation of the wind energy converter stations’ topsides and jacket structures. Once completed, the platform will be transported and installed in German waters.

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

“The awarding of the contract to GE Vernova and Drydock World marks the beginning of a new chapter in the use of wind energy in the Baltic Sea, commented Stefan Kapferer, CEO of 50Hertz Transmission. "50Hertz is the first transmission system operator to deploy two GW / 525 kV technology in this sea area. 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.

"To do this, we need to think and act in an even more networked way across national borders. 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.”