ScottishPower Renewables’ first-ever High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) offshore converter station has been successfully installed at East Anglia THREE.
Heavier than the Eiffel Tower and taller than the Statue of Liberty, the 10,700 tonnes, seven-storey structure was lifted and safely secured at the windfarm last week, around 69km off the Suffolk coast.
At around 70 metres long, 34 metres wide and 48 metres high, the module is the biggest ever constructed across the whole of the Iberdrola Group.
The HVDC station will convert electricity from high-voltage alternating current (AC) to direct current from the windfarm’s 95 turbines.
The £4 billion East Anglia THREE project is the first of ScottishPower Renewables’ offshore windfarms to use HVDC technology, the most efficient way to transport power over long-distances.
The installation process was completed by the biggest crane vessel in the world, the Heerema Marine Contractors’ SSCV Sleipnir, which already installed the offshore jacket foundations for the project earlier this summer.
Fabrication of the module was completed in Mangalia, Romania in mid-2024, after which it sailed over 3,800 nautical miles to Aker Solutions’ fabrication yard in Stord, Norway, for completion. The power transmission technology inside the module comes from Siemens Energy.
At 1.4GW, East Anglia THREE will be the biggest-ever windfarm across the whole of the Iberdrola group and among the largest in the world when it comes into operation at the end of 2026 – producing enough clean energy to power the equivalent of more than 1 million homes.
Charlie Jordan, CEO ScottishPower Renewables, said, “Installing our first ever offshore HVDC converter station is testament to the hard work of our teams and suppliers to deliver such a complex feat of engineering. This is a significant milestone for our East Anglia THREE project as we progress towards completion at the end of 2026.”
Darren Davidson, Vice President of Siemens Energy UK&I, said, “This is a fantastic landmark moment, East Anglia THREE is our first HVDC grid access project to be delivered in the UK. HVDC enables efficient long-distance power transmission with reduced losses, supporting the UK’s grid stability.”
