Siemens Energy lands €7bn contract for offshore grid connections

A consortium of Siemens Energy and Spain's Dragados Offshore has signed a framework agreement with German-Dutch transmission system operator TenneT to supply high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission technology for three grid connections in the German North Sea.
The projects available through the agreement will ensure that a total of 6 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power can be transported onshore, Siemens Energy said in a statement Thursday.
The contract value for the consortium of Siemens Energy and Dragados Offshore is close to €7 billion ($7.7 billion).
The three grid connections will transport electricity from wind farms in the North Sea to grid connection points in northern Germany. Each of the systems has a transmission capacity of two gigawatts.
Siemens Energy will manufacture the main electrical components, such as switchgears, transformers and converter technologies, at its factories in Europe.
The Spanish consortium partner Dragados Offshore will be responsible for the construction and offshore installation of the platforms.
Wind turbines generate electrical energy as alternating current. To transport the electricity from offshore wind farms onshore, it has to be converted into direct current.
Siemens Energy's high-voltage direct-current transmission technology, which has been installed in offshore converter platforms, takes care of this.