TenneT issues cable link tender for IJmuiden Ver 2 GW offshore wind connections

TenneT has launched the tender for the 525 kV DC cable system for the Dutch IJmuiden Ver projects, which will see the transmission system operator (TSO) building at least two 2 GW offshore grid connections to link the wind farms in this wind energy zone to the national grid.

The TSO, which expects to award contract(s) by the beginning of 2023, launched the pre-qualification for the tender in April and announced that the first cable supply and installation tender for the 2 GW offshore grids would be launched in Q3 or Q4 of this year.

This procurement follows the recently opened tenders for the engineering of the onshore substations and offshore platforms.

The first of potentially three 2 GW IJmuiden Ver connection is planned to be operational in 2028.

The IJmuiden Ver zone is planned to comprise two offshore grid connections and corresponding transformer platforms: Alpha and Beta. These will connect the offshore wind farms at the I & II and III & IV sites.

The zone could also house another grid connection in the northern part of the IJmuiden Ver wind energy area, which would link the newly planned V & VI sites to the grid and which needs to be confirmed in the North Sea Programme to firmly move forward.

The Dutch State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, has just announced the start of spatial planning procedures for cable routes that would connect more than 10 GW of the country’s planned additional offshore wind capacity to the national grid, including the 2 GW IJmuiden Ver North connection to Maasvlakte.

The move follows last month’s release of an Additional Draft North Sea Programme 2022 – 2027, which increases the Dutch offshore wind target from the current 11.5 GW to 22.2 GW by 2030 with additional 10.7 GW planned in order to meet the EU’s current goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 55 per cent by 2030 compared to the 1990 levels.

The Dutch government expects to have the new IJmuiden Ver 2 GW connection to Maasvlakte, and three others, realised by 2030, at the latest.

As for the Alpha and Beta connections, consultation on the draft permit and draft spatial plan for the Beta link is set to start at the end of this year, while the same is scheduled for Alpha at the beginning of 2022.

Final permits and spatial plans for the first two IJmuiden Ver offshore grids are expected to be in place in mid-2022.