FIRST TENNET TRANSFORMER DELIVERED TO WIJK AAN ZEE STATION
The first TenneT transformer for the transformer station in Wijk aan Zee arrived on Thursday 21 October. It is part of the connection between the Hollandse Kust Noord wind farm at sea and the national high-voltage grid.
TRANSFORMING WIND ENERGY
The activities for the Hollandse Kust Noord and West Alpha Grid at Sea on land are now well underway. The power of the wind turbines at sea will soon be brought to shore via 220 kV cables to the new TenneT transformer station in Wijk aan Zee. Here the energy from the three wind farms will be transformed into a 380 kV voltage that can be directly connected to the national grid. This will be achieved by transformers that weigh some 260 tonnes each.
COMPLEX OPERATION
The first Siemens transformer for the new station in Wijk aan Zee was built in Austria and transported to IJmuiden by boat. In the port it was lifted onto a trailer to travel the final segment of the journey to the station over land. The transportation partly took place via the Tata Steel premises to minimise the impact on the surroundings.
The transformer arrived in the IJmuiden port on the morning of Wednesday 20 October and will be installed at the transformer station over the coming weeks. The foundation and walls for the connection to the Hollandse Kust Noord wind farm have been completed and a noise-insulating structure will be placed around the transformer once it is in place.
SECOND TRANSFORMER DUE
The second and final transformer for the first Hollandse Kust Noord wind farm is expected to arrive and be installed over the course of November. Four more transformers will be delivered at a later date for the Hollandse Kust West Alpha and West Beta wind farms. Moreover, two Siemens 220 kV switchyard reactors will also be installed in late October/early November to compensate for any losses from the cable connections.
The drilling and placement of the jacket pipes for the installation of the TenneT land cables has also begun. The total transformer station will require some 70 km of high-voltage cable to be installed between Wijk aan Zee and the high-voltage plant in Beverwijk.
