The Siemens/Petrofac consortium awarded the contract for the floatover installation of the HVDC converter platform of BorWin3 wind farm to Trelleborg engineered products operation.
The high voltage direct current (HVDC) converter station will be installed about 130 km off the German coast in the North Sea with Siemens supplying the transmission technology and Petrofac being responsible for construction and installation of the platform. The HVDC converter has a DC rating of 900 MW.
Vincent Tan, Sales and Marketing Manager for Trelleborg’s engineered products operation, says: “BorWin3 is only the third wind farm converter project in the world to utilize floatover technology, so it is a significant project not only for Trelleborg, but the industry too. For the installation of the 18,500 metric tons topside onto the substructure, we have been contracted to supply six sets of leg mating units and the same amount of deck support units.”
These leg mating units (LMUs) consist of steel structures filled with elastomeric pads to dampen the forces during the transfer of the topside’s load to the jacket. The LMUs are designed to take up the static and dynamic forces of the topside structure, as well as the horizontal forces caused by the motions of the open sea during installation. Assembled LMUs can be installed either on the topside or on the substructure. In addition, deck support units (DSUs) are fixed on the barge that will transport the platform's topside to its site offshore. These combat the destabilizing effects of adverse weather and sea conditions during transport.
Trelleborg, which specializes in in engineered polymer solutions that seal, damp and protect critical applications in demanding environments, will begin fabrication of its LMUs and DSUs immediately. The products are scheduled for delivery in 2018, while the entire project is due for completion in 2019.
Tanja Peschel / Trelleborg
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