Posted on October 29, 2021
Siemens Energy was awarded its first offshore grid connection project in the United States. In a consortium with Aker Solutions, the company will supply the high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission system that will bring green energy from Sunrise Wind, New York’s first utility-scale offshore wind project, to the mainland.
It’s the first offshore wind project in the United States to use HVDC technology. The approximately 924-MW wind farm is developed by a joint venture between Danish clean energy company Ørsted and U.S.-based energy provider Eversource.
Located about 30 miles east of Long Island, Sunrise Wind will supply green energy to nearly 600,000 homes in New York State and support the state’s goal to meet its 100% clean electricity by 2040 goal.
“To date, we have connected the offshore grid to the mainland 21 times, bringing more than 12 GW of wind power to households in Europe. The fact that we are now able to proceed with our very first offshore HVDC grid connection project in the United States makes us proud,” said Tim Holt, member of the executive board at Siemens Energy. “Carbon-neutrality goals will not be met without wide-scale deployment of renewable energy projects like Sunrise Wind. There will be many more wind projects like this in the U.S. and we are happy to do our part to help provide the country with sustainable power.”
Siemens Energy will deliver the HVDC system on a turnkey basis and provide onshore civil work in partnership with local companies. The HVDC system will enable low-loss transport of green energy from the wind farm to the mainland. It consists of two converter stations: The offshore converter station will collect the 66 kVAC power generated by the wind turbines through an inter-array cable system and transform it to 320 kVDC for transmission through a 160 kM export cable to the onshore converter station, located at Holbrook on Long Island.
The onshore station will convert the power back to AC to feed it into the distribution grid, which will bring the energy to homes, industry and other end-users in New York. Aker Solutions is responsible for the platform consisting of a steel jacket substructure and a topside platform deck housing the electrical equipment.
Sunrise Wind will support the establishment of an offshore wind supply chain in New York State. The onshore installation of the project’s converter station will be carried out by local companies. The final deliveries are scheduled for the second half of 2025.
Siemens Energy has over 10,000 employees working in 84 locations throughout the United States, driving the energy transition with a portfolio of products, solutions and services that covers almost the entire energy value chain — from power generation and transmission to storage that includes both conventional and renewable energy technology.
