Petrofac, Hitachi Energy, to deliver Nederwiek 1

Petrofac and Hitachi Energy will deliver Nederwiek 1, a Dutch transmission station which forms part of TenneT’s 2GW Programme.

The contract award is the second project under a US$14bn, multi-year framework agreement with TenneT to expand offshore wind capacity in the North Sea.

The project is to be executed under a standalone contract, with Petrofac’s portion valued at around US$1.4bn.

Nederwiek 1 comprises several high-voltage direct current (HVDC) offshore grid connection systems, each with a transmission capacity of 2GW.

Under the six-project framework agreement, Petrofac will undertake the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) of offshore platforms and elements of the onshore converter stations.

Meanwhile, Hitachi Energy will supply its HVDC converter stations, which convert AC to DC power offshore and DC to AC onshore.

Petrofac’s and Hitachi Energy’s teams have already collaborated closely on the preparatory works, reserving production capacity for multiple platforms and HVDC technology, and initiating the detailed design process for the first platform, the Ijmuiden Ver Alpha.

Petrofac has secured the performance guarantee required for the Ijmuiden Ver Alpha contract.

The Group remains in active discussion with credit providers and its clients to secure the guarantees required for other new contracts in its portfolio, it said.

Additional projects within the TenneT’s 2GW Programme are expected to be awarded at approximately six-month intervals.

These are the grid connections landing at Geertruidenberg or Moerdijk (Nederwiek 3) and Eemshaven (Doordewind 1 and Doordewind 2). The sixth project, the German connection LanWin5, will be connected near Rastede, Germany.

John Pearson, chief operating officer for energy transition projects at Petrofac, said: “We have been collaborating with our partner Hitachi Energy, and client TenneT, on the first project, Ijmuiden Ver Alpha.

"The award of Nederwiek 1 continues our focus on the standardisation and harmonisation of design and execution that will be central to the ‘design one, build many’ philosophy of the 2GW Programme.

"By aligning ourselves with TenneT’s objectives, we are creating a blueprint for the rapid deployment of large-scale infrastructure projects crucial to Europe’s energy transition."

Niklas Persson, managing director of Hitachi Energy’s Grid Integration business, said: "As a pioneering technology and market leader, we are delighted to collaborate to deliver our HVDC solution for Nederwiek 1, combining world-class energy and digital systems.

"Our strong collaboration with Petrofac, based on an agile business model, scalable solutions and synergies among projects, allows us to join forces and support TenneT in its ambition to accelerate offshore wind deployment in the North Sea, granting European citizens more sustainable and reliable power."

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