Dutch state-owned grid operator Tennet has informed that the Borssele Beta offshore substation has sailed away to the Borssele Area in the Dutch North Sea, where it will be placed on a subsea jacket by a crane vessel later this week.
The topside is 25 meters high, 58 meters long and 32 meters wide, and it weighs 3,650 tonnes.
The Borssele Beta offshore transformer platform, will provide access to the electricity produced by the offshore wind farms Borssele III, IV that are still under construction, and bring the electricity onshore starting in 2020.
The 700 MW offshore station is expected to be operational in September 2020.
From that point onwards, the wind farms being constructed approximately 22 km from the coast of the Province of Zeeland by the Blauwwind consortium will be plugged into the Borselle Beta.
The electricity generated by the offshore Borssele III and IV wind farm will subsequently be brought onshore to the high voltage substation in Borssele by means of two 67-kilometer long cables. The platform was built by HSM Offshore in Schiedam (NL).
The Borssele III & IV offshore wind farms are being built in the Dutch North Sea by Blauwwind, a consortium between Shell, Eneco, DGE and Van Oord.