North Sea TSO seeking service providers offshore Germany

Dutch-German transmission system operator (TSO) TenneT has begun two tendering processes looking for providers of offshore services in Germany.

TenneT is looking for a provider of a marine geophysical unexploded ordnance (UXO) survey, identification and clearance of offshore cable routes for the BorWin6 HVDC export cable, N3-7 and N3-8 HVAC routes, and, as an optional item, the BorWin5 HVDC export cable.

The activities will be carried out within German territorial waters in the German Bight and the Exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

According to TenneT, in these waters, the possibility of UXO remnants from the First and Second World War in close proximity to offshore construction areas cannot be excluded and it is thus necessary to investigate the cable route and platform location to determine any obstacles that could potentially hinder cable or platform installation activities before offshore works commence.

The selected party will be responsible for the delivery of all survey, identification, disposal activities and provision of the final route and target clearance certification under Section 7 German Explosive Act (SprengG).

The contract is set to start on 1 March 2023 and end on 31 October 2024.

The deadline for submitting applications for the tender is 29 July by 12:00 local time.

In the second tender, TenneT is seeking a developer of a universal submarine repair joint for cable faults on AC cable systems (110 – 220 kV) on behalf of an undisclosed client.

The TSO said that the client is in the market for procuring an AC universal submarine repair joint for repairs capable of jointing 110 to 155 kV HVAC cables as operated offshore in Germany and 220 kV HVAC cables as operated offshore in the Netherlands.

In order to have one universal repair joint for all these connections, the client is looking to procure a so-called “SMART Joint” design, where one design fits all.

SMART Joint consists of a set of single-phase joints for all conductor sizes and all kV levels, fibre optic splice boxes, outer rigid casing with connections for bend restrictors, and a set of articulated bend restrictors fitting for all outer diameters of cables.

After the development, production and testing of two prototypes according to the corresponding test regime, the client has the possibility to order six SMART Joints.

Interested parties are free to submit their applications until 25 July by 12:00 local time. The contract will be awarded for a duration of eight months.