BorWin Alpha

BorWin Alpha is the first HVDC station of the world installed on an offshore platform. It is used for the conversion of the power generated in offshore wind park BARD 1 into DC with a voltage of 150 kV for the HVDC-transmission to Diele. As static inverter valves the station BorWin alpha uses not thyristors, but IGBT elements. The platform BorWin alpha was built in a shipyard in Vlissingen, the Netherlands. The electrical equipment comes from ABB. The platform BorWin alpha was dragged with the Thialf to the place of assembly and installed there at the end of May and the beginning of June 2009. The overall height of BorWin alpha is 84 metres, from which 62 metres come from the carrying construction, the so-called Jacket. The weight of the entire platform is 5000 tons. Of this 1800 tons come from the Jacket.