BorWin Alpha
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Location of the BorWin alpha offshore platform |
BorWin alpha is an offshore platform on which a station for high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission is installed. It is located northwest of the island of Borkum in the German Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the North Sea .
The system is used to convert the electrical energy generated in the offshore wind farm BARD Offshore 1 into direct current with a voltage of ± 150 kV for the HVDC BorWin1 for low-loss transmission of the energy generated on land to the opposite station in the hall .
Technology and construction
The converter station BorWin alpha uses IGBT elements rather than thyristors as converter valves . This also enables the system to start black . As part of the flexible AC transmission system , the HVDC can also provide reactive power for the grid independently of the transferred active power. The HVDC station is the first on an offshore platform worldwide.
The BorWin alpha platform was built at a shipyard in Vlissingen in the Netherlands . The electrical equipment comes from Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) from Sweden. The cable route length of BorWin 1 is approx. 200 km, of which around 125 km are accounted for by the sea route (platform BorWin alpha - Norderney - Hilgenriedersiel ) and around 75 km by the land route (Hilgenriedersiel - Diele).
The platform was towed to the installation site with the Thialf floating crane and installed there from the end of May to the beginning of June 2009. The total height of the structure is 82 m, of which 61 m is accounted for by the supporting structure, the so-called jacket. It has a width of 36 m and a length of 50 m. The weight of the entire platform is 5000 tons (t). The jacket accounts for 1800 t of this.
Location and identifier of the platform
The platform is at position 54 ° 21.25 'N 006 ° 01.5' E in the WGS-84 system . It is painted yellow with the inscription "BORWIN ALPHA" on all four sides. The night marking for shipping consists of a yellow light on the corners of the top deck with the code “Oc (3) Y.16s 5M” (interrupted yellow light with a return of 16 seconds and a range of 5 nautical miles ). The platform is also equipped with an AIS device. A safety distance of 500 meters must be maintained from the platform.
Problems
On March 23, 2014, two filters in the converter station burned out, after which the plant was temporarily shut down. After various test drives in 2015, the converter returned to normal operation in October.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Digital-Seas.com: Key data from BorWin alpha , accessed on May 20, 2010.
- ↑ elwis.de: BfS 57/09 of the WSA Cuxhaven .
- ↑ Knall auf high See Spiegel 35/2014, accessed on September 23, 2014.
- ↑ Die Welt: After many breakdowns, the pioneer wind farm is up and running again . October 5, 2015, accessed February 26, 2016.
Web links
Coordinates: 54 ° 21 ′ 15 ″ N , 6 ° 1 ′ 30 ″ E