Transmission System Operator News

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has been selected by Gaz-System as the preferred shipowner to time charter out a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) for the planned LNG import terminal in the Gulf of Gdańsk in Poland.Polish gas transmission system operator Gaz-System is the project developer and operator behind the future LNG terminal.This is Poland's first such FSRU and is a strategically important piece of energy infrastructure which will enhance the country's energy security.The FSRU is expected to be berthed at a mooring platform approximately 3km from the shore…

FRS Windcat Offshore Logistics has announced the deployment of the hydrogen-powered dual fuel crew transfer vessel (CTV) in Germany for 50Hertz transmission system operator, marking the beginning of a joint operation in various wind farms in the German Baltic Sea.The CTV, named Hydrocat 55, is equipped with the dual fuel hydrogen technology of CMB.TECH, one of the FRS Windcat Offshore Logistics (FWOL) shareholders.The vessel represents an innovation for the offshore wind industry…

Dutch shipbuilding conglomerate Damen announced it has delivered a new shallow draft vessel to the German energy infrastructure construction company Bohlen & Doyen Bau GmbH, a subsidiary of Friedrich Vorwerk. The new Multi Cat 1908 SD workboat, named Scholle, is the first marine asset to be bought by the company in many years.The 19.4-meter vessel has been bought for use on a multi-year project supporting transmission system operator TenneT on its offshore grid connection systems in the North Sea.

Work has begun to develop Greece’s first Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) at the Keppel shipyard in Singapore, with the conversion of GasLog’s DNV classed LNGC Gaslog Chelsea, recently renamed Alexandroupoli.Following conversion, FSRU Alexandroupoli will serve as an offshore storage and regasification facility and will be part of the Alexandroupolis Independent Natural Gas System (INGS). The 155,000-cbm LNG carrier, recently reflagged to the Greek flag, is the first FSRU conversion under the Greek Flag for operation in the Aegean Sea.

Italian subsea cable firm Prysmian Group said Thursday it has added a new vessel - Barbarossa I - to its fleet."After the debut of the state-of-the-art 170-meter Leonardo da Vinci [vessel] in August 2021, Prysmian Group’s fleet would seem to be complete. But with the addition of Barbarossa I, Prysmian Group becomes the first company in the sector that can provide the full range of submarine cable-laying solutions from the shallowest coastal waters in Northern Europe to the profoundest depths of the Mediterranean Sea.

A Danish Baltic Sea island suffered a temporary power blackout on Monday as a local grid fault caused the transformer feeding electricity from Sweden to shut down, Energinet and E.ON said. Danish transmission system operator Energinet said the blackout had not been caused by damage to the subsea cable feeding the electricity from the transformer station, and power had returned to all consumers on Bornholm. "The fault which caused a power outage on Bornholm on Monday at (0549 GMT) was not directly related to the submarine cable between Bornholm and Sweden…

U.S.-based LNG firm Excelerate Energy said Thursday that it had signed a term sheet with ENGIE for the deployment of a floating storage and regasification unit (“FSRU”) that will provide flexible and secure LNG regasification capacity for Germany as it continues to seek alternatives to Russian pipeline gas supply.Under the proposed agreement, Excelerate would deploy an FSRU from its integrated fleet to provide regasification services for a period of five years at Germany’s fifth planned LNG import terminal…

U.S.-based LNG company Excelerate Energy and a subsidiary of Gasgrid Finland, a Finnish state-owned natural gas transmission system operator, on Friday signed a ten-year deal in Helsinki for the charter of a floating storage and regasification vessel (FSRU) that they said would provide "flexible, reliable, and secure" supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Finland, Estonia, and the Baltic Sea Region.Excelerate President and CEO Steven Kobos, Gasgrid Finland CEO Olli Sipilä,…

After many false starts, the U.S. offshore wind market is building strong roots for a solid future. But as the market develops from its current northeast and mid-Atlantic niche new opportunities and challenges arise.The U.S. offshore wind market has long been seen as not delivering on its significant potential. With an offshore wind technical potential of more than double that of the country’s total annual electricity sales, the U.S. has long been seen as having the potential to be a major player in the global offshore wind market.

Belgian offshore installation service provider DEME Offshore has installed the DolWin6 High Voltage DC (HVDC) cable in the German North Sea, using its LNG-powered DP3 vessel Living Stone. DolWin6 has a transmission capacity of 900 MW and is owned and operated by transmission system operator TenneT. The HVDC cable runs from several offshore wind farms in Germany via Norderney to the German mainland."This is the first time a cable-laying vessel has installed cables while powered on LNG…

European transmission system operator TenneT has awarded VDL Network Supplies a contract to support the construction of half of the wintrack pylons (high-voltage pylons) for a new 380 kV high-voltage connection from Borssele to Rilland.The new pylons, which are some 60 to 80 meters high, will be produced by VDL KTI in Mol (Belgium). The high-voltage pylons will be supplied between early 2021 and late 2022 and erected on the TenneT route between Borsele and Rilland in the province of Zeeland.The high-voltage lines that connect the pylons will transport electricity originating from wind farms off the coast of Zeeland, which are due to be completed this year and next year.Project Manager Nicolien Vrisou van Eck from TenneT said: “We have every confidence in our partnership with VDL.

Ship operators carried out 195 liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering operations at Spanish ports in 2019, 135 more than in the previous year, Spanish authorities said on Friday.81,704 cubic metres of LNG was supplied to ships during the year.The upward trend continued in January 2020, with 35 operations supplying 12,055 cubic metres.Spain has seven LNG terminals, more than any other country in Europe. The terminals have been or are being adapted to allow them to provide small…

European transmission system operator TenneT has announced plans to build two 2 GW offshore grid connections in the IJmuiden Ver wind energy area, having entered into a so-called 'innovation partnership' with its suppliers.Given the combination of the large distance to the coast and the size of the IJmuiden Ver wind energy area, a 2 GW direct current (HVDC) solution, based on 525 kilovolts, appears to offer most economical  advantages. It requires only one cable system per 2 GW, limiting the impact on the environment and the surroundings.To realise such an innovative direct current system, TenneT launched the design phase with five HVDC suppliers on the basis of an innovation partnership: ABB Power Grids…

Poland's state gas company PGNiG says it had notified Russia's Gazprom that it will not renew their long-term deal on liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies when the agreement expires after 2022.In accordance with the provisions of the Yamal Contract, three years prior to its original termination date, i.e. by December 31st, 2019, the parties are required to submit a declaration whether or not they intend to continue their contractual relationship beyond 2022.Gazprom Export, the gas-exporting arm of state-controlled Gazprom, confirmed in a statement to Reuters that it had received the notification from PGNiG.“In line with the Republic of Poland’s aspiration to achieve security of energy supplies and seeking to deliver the PGNiG Group’s current strategy…

The 700MW COBRAcable interconnector linking the Dutch and the Danish grid will be available for the electricity market as of delivery day, 7 September, Dutch high-voltage grid operator TenneT said."After three years of construction, including the laying of the submarine cables as well as the construction of two onshore converter stations, and a successful test phase earlier this year, COBRAcable will be available for the electricity market as of the delivery day of 7 September, which is exactly on schedule," it said.The first direct connection between the electricity markets of Denmark and the Netherlands was jointly realised and is operated by the two TSCNET shareholders Energinet…

Hungarian international oil and gas company MOL Group delivered an EBITDA of USD 1.15bn in H1 2019, exactly half of the full-year 2019 guidance.Upstream EBITDA was 10% lower in H1 2019 at USD 553mn, as higher volumes were more than offset by lower oil and gas prices. The segment remained the largest free cash flow generator of the Group. Average daily hydrocarbon production was 111.8 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) higher by 2% year-on-year.Downstream Clean net income EBITDA amounted to USD 403mln in H1 2019, 18% lower year-on-year. Materially weaker refining macro put pressure on EBITDA.Consumer Services EBITDA growth remained double-digit in local currencies…

The North Sea "wind harvest" of the first half of 2019 exceeds the first half of 2018 by 16 percent.TenneT Holding said in a press release that in the first half of 2019, the wind energy transmitted from the North Sea to land by the transmission grid operator TenneT rose to 9.51 terawatt hours (TWh).This corresponds to an increase of a good 16 percent compared with the first half of 2018 (8.17 TWh), said the transmission system operator in the Netherlands and in a large part of Germany."We see the share of electricity transmission from the North Sea stable at around 15 percent of the total wind power generation in Germany, which reached almost 64 terawatt hours in the first half of 2019", said TenneT COO Tim Meyerjürgens.

The international oil & gas advisory and classification society DNV GL has won a major contract to provide independent verification services for the Danish transmission system operator Energinet’s section of the Baltic Pipe project, offshore Denmark.The Baltic Pipe project aims to enable the transport of gas from Norway from a tie-in to the existing Europipe II in the Danish North Sea to the export facility in Zealand. The pipeline in the Baltic Sea towards Poland is not included in the contract. The Baltic Pipe project is planned to be fully operational by 1 October 2022.DNV GL’s contract scope includes independent verification and submarine pipeline certification to the DNV GL certification regime DNVGL-SE-0475.

Netherlands-based transmission system operator TenneT Holding B.V. has launched and priced another Green Bond issue of EUR 1.25 billion, with proceeds set to be used for investing in offshore wind.The Green Bond issue is split in two tranches of EUR 500 million and EUR 750 million with the support of five banks: ABN AMRO, Barclays, HSBC, NatWest Markets and SMBC Nikko."Proceeds will be used to invest in green projects in the Netherlands and Germany to connect large scale of offshore wind to the onshore electricity grid," said a press release.Over the next ten years TenneT expects to invest EUR 35 billion in offshore and onshore grid connections across the Netherlands and Germany, driving the energy transition.Approx.

Norwegian energy services provider Aibel AS and a unit of Singaporean conglomerate Keppel Corporation have jointly won a contract to deliver two converter stations as part of the DolWin cluster servicing German offshore wind farms.The grid operator TenneT Offshore has tasked Aibel and Keppel O&M, a unit of Keppel Corp, with the design, engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning of a 900-MW offshore High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) converter station along with an onshore converter station as part of the DolWin5 project.Together with its subcontractor ABB (ASEA Brown Boveri), the consortium will also undertake the installation and start-up operations of the offshore and onshore converter stations on site at Germany.Scheduled to be completed in 2024…

The transmission system operator Tennet has moved the first submarine cable from the Dutch wind farm zone "Borssele" to the transformer station."TenneT has laid the first sea cable to connect the Alpha platform to the transformer substation in Borssele. In the morning of Friday 12 April, VBNK started withdrawing the sea cable on land and early Saturday morning the cable reached the newly built transformer substation," said a press release.The cable-laying vessel, Giant 7, then repositioned itself in the Honte and started with the most critical part of the installation: crossing the fairway.Before crossing the channel, shipping traffic to and from the port of Antwerp was blocked until Sunday afternoon.

Belgium-based natural gas transmission system operator Fluxys and Netherlands-based Titan LNG have joined forces to build the FlexFueler 002, a bunkering pontoon to make liquefied natural gas (LNG) more widely available as shipping fuel in the Antwerp port and region.Shipyard Kooiman, Zwijndrecht, The Netherlands, was contracted to build the FlexFueler 002. The pontoon, which is scheduled to be commissioned by mid-2020, will measure 76.4 x 11.45 m and is equipped with four vacuum insulated type C cargo tanks of 370 cu. m. each, to carry liquid LNG. The pontoon is not self propelled but for assistance in maneuvering a bow thruster is installed.

DNV GL, the world’s largest resource of independent energy experts and certification body, has been contracted by Transmission System Operator TenneT to deliver the complete project certification for two offshore substations (OSS) for the Hollandse Kust Zuid offshore wind farms in the Dutch North Sea.The reliability of renewable sources is increasingly important as the world continues to rapidly electrify while also switching to greener forms of generation. According to DNV GL’s Energy Transition Outlook Report electricity’s share of the total energy demand is expected to more than double to 45% by 2050 with renewables accounting for…