DolWin4 and BorWin4: Amprion submits approval documents for the exclusive economic zone
Amprion Offshore GmbH, a subsidiary of the Dortmund based transmission system operator Amprion, has submitted the documents for the public planning procedure for the “Exclusive Economic Zone” section of the DolWin4 and BorWin4 offshore grid connection systems. The competent authority is now checking the documents for completeness. Cable installation is expected to begin in 2025.
With the two offshore grid connection systems, Amprion connects wind farms in area 3 (DolWin4) and area 6 (BorWin4). These are located in the so-called Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and are therefore the responsibility of the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) in Hamburg. For the section between the wind farms and the so-called 12 nautical miles zone, Amprion has now submitted the approval documents to the BSH for a completeness check. The extensive documents take into account both the installation of the submarine cables and the erection of the converter platforms in the immediate vicinity of the wind farms to be connected. The platforms collect the alternating current generated in the wind farms and convert it into direct current for transport on land.
The application documents contain, inter alia, a pre-design of the planned platforms. Amprion developed it together with several experienced manufacturers in order to identify essential features of the project and the corresponding ideal standard design.
In the upcoming months, the competent authority will check the submitted documents for completeness. Mario Bechmann, the responsible project manager at Amprion, is confident: “Over the past two years, our experienced planners have dealt extensively with special requirements regarding nature conservation, shipping and fishing in the EEZ. In addition, we have coordinated closely with the authorities and other public agencies. I am sure that we have presented a good result."
Once the completeness has been certified, the competent authority is expected to initiate the public planning procedure at the end of the summer. Then both public agencies and citizens can have access to the documents and become involved. With the early submission of the application documents, Amprion hopes to receive the public planning approval decisions before the large platforms and cables are awarded.
The offshore grid connection systems DolWin4 and BorWin4
The largely parallel running offshore grid connection systems DolWin4 and BorWin4 are among the most important energy transition projects in Germany. They are scheduled to go into operation in 2028 and 2029. Starting at the wind farms located in the North Sea, the cables initially run 60 and 125 kilometres at sea. They cross below the island of Norderney and reach the coast in Hilgenriedersiel. From there, they run for around 155 kilometres as underground cables towards the Hanekenfähr substation in Lingen (Ems), where Amprion will connect them to its transmission network.
