German Grid Operator Awards Ostwind 3 Offshore Substation Contract to Multi Party JV

Wind Industry Experts Bat For Extending PLI For Component Makers 

50Hertz – the German offshore transmission system operator (TSO) – has asked a joint venture comprising HSM Offshore Energy, Smulders, and Iv-Offshore & Energy for the development of an offshore high voltage substation called ‘Ostwind 3’ that would lie in the Baltic Sea.

The purpose of Ostwind 3 is to connect the 300 MW Windanker offshore wind energy farm developed by Iberdrola in the Baltic Sea with the grid system. As per the announcement, the Dutch-Belgian joint venture will be responsible for the engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning (EPCIC) of the jacket foundation and also the substation.

The engineering work has already begun on the project. As per reports, the prefabrication and construction of the substation and jacket will be done in the construction facilities of Belgium and the Netherlands next year.

Also, it is for the first time that by 50Hertz an offshore substation is going to be planned, constructed, and operated apart from the cable systems to connect the wind energy farm with the transmission grid system.

The upcoming substation is going to be located northeast of the island of Rügen. This is about 100 km off the coastal town of Lubmin. The wind turbines based electricity will be generated at this place and then transferred to the German grid system.

The Wind Farm in Focus

Iberdrola had exercised the step-in-right in Windanker wind farm for the pre-developed site O-1.3 in November, 2021. The wind farm will be developed in Westlich Adlergrund area near the already operating wind farms of Wikinger and Arkona which are connected by 50Hertz to the grid connection system called ‘Ostwind 1.’

Iberdrola held previously that Windanker will be operationalised in 2026 and the wind project will be the first offshore wind project in the German side of the Baltic Sea built at market conditions.

Windanker wind farm forms part of Iberdrola’s Baltic Hub. The total installed capacity of the Baltic Hub will be more than 1.1 GW by 2026 that will fulfil the needs of more than 1.1 million German households.