Germany/The Netherlands – ONE-Dyas, a Dutch oil and gas firm, has given N-Sea a contract to connect a subsea power line between the Riffgat offshore wind farm in the German North Sea and the new N05-A gas production platform, which is now under construction.
N-scope Sea’s includes survey, design, supply, engineering, transport, installation, burial, termination, and testing of a subsea cable asset with a route length of about 10 kilometres.
The project got final approvals from the Dutch government in June 2022, followed by a final investment decision in September 2022. The preparations have already begun, and N-Sea will mobilise several spreads in Summer 2023 and 2024 to carry out the operations so that ONE-Dyas can supply the first gas in August 2024.
Electricity from wind
According to N-Sea, the subsea cable will allow the N05-A platform to run on electricity generated by the Riffgat offshore wind farm, making it not only the largest investment in a natural gas development project on the Dutch continental shelf in the last 15 years, but also the one with the smallest emissions footprint in the North Sea.
The N05-A platform will be built around 20 kilometres north of the islands of Borkum, Rottumerplaat, and Schiermonnikoog, and about 1.5 kilometres from German waters, where it will collect power generated by the German North Sea’s first commercially functioning wind farm.
GEMS area
The N05-A project is located in the GEMS area, which is approximately 20 to 80 kilometres north of the Ems estuary. ONE-Dyas, in collaboration with Hansa Hydrocarbons and EBN, intends to harvest natural gas from the N05-A field and neighbouring fields in the German and Dutch North Seas.
The N05-A platform will not be the first in the North Sea to run entirely on wind energy, as the Hywind Tampen floating wind farm, which is being built to power the Snorre and Gullfaks offshore oil and gas platforms in Norway, will cover 35% of the annual power needs on the five platforms in the two fields.
Riffgat offshore wind farm
EWE completed the Riffgat offshore wind farm in 2013, which is the first commercially functioning wind farm in the German North Sea. The 113.4 MW wind farm consists of 30 Siemens SWT-3.6-120 wind turbines constructed 15 kilometres north-west of the German island of Borkum.
