Steel Cut for TenneT's Third 2 GW HVDC Platform - Nederwiek 2
The GE Vernova–Seatrium consortium celebrated the first steel cut for the Nederwiek 2 offshore HVDC converter platform on 5 February 2026, with parallel ceremonies held at Seatrium's yards in Singapore and Batam, Indonesia. The platform is the third to enter fabrication under TenneT's 2 GW offshore grid connection programme for the Dutch North Sea, and is scheduled to be commissioned in 2032.
The milestone brings to three the number of 2 GW platforms simultaneously under construction by the consortium. The first, IJmuiden Ver Beta, reached first steel on 11 September 2024 and remains on track for commissioning in 2029. The second, IJmuiden Ver Gamma, followed with a steel cut on 14 May 2025. Nederwiek 2 will sit approximately 95 kilometres off the Dutch coast, serving the Nederwiek 2 offshore wind farm.
"This is another important milestone," said Michiel Cadenau, TenneT Project Director for the Nederwiek 2 project. "We expect 2026 to be even busier than last year, as three platforms of our 2 GW design are now under construction. We look forward to continuing our excellent collaboration with GE Vernova and Seatrium."
The Nederwiek 2 contract, valued at approximately €2 billion, was awarded in mid-2024 as the third call-off under the five-year Framework Cooperation Agreement that TenneT signed with the consortium in March 2023. Under that agreement, GE Vernova's Grid Solutions business leads the consortium and is responsible for engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning of the HVDC converter stations. Seatrium's scope covers the engineering, procurement, construction, transportation, installation and commissioning of the offshore converter platform topside. Each topside is expected to weigh in excess of 30,000 tonnes.
The HVDC system architecture follows a consistent design across the programme. Offshore wind energy is collected via 66 kV array cables and delivered to the offshore converter platform, where it is converted from alternating current to direct current. Power is then transmitted via 525 kV cable links to onshore converter stations at Maasvlakte Rotterdam, where it is converted back to alternating current before entering the high-voltage onshore grid.
In a further supply chain development, Seatrium has contracted heavy lift specialist Mammoet to carry out load-out operations for three platforms under the TenneT programme. Mammoet will use hydraulically compensated skidding equipment to transfer each completed topside from the fabrication yard onto sea-going transport vessels, a process that requires precise load management given the scale of the structures involved.
At the end of 2025, the GE Vernova–Seatrium consortium was awarded a fourth contract under the same framework agreement, this time for the 2.2 GW BalWin5 offshore grid connection in the German North Sea, extending the series-build programme beyond the Netherlands.
The Nederwiek 2 project forms part of TenneT's broader ambition to connect 40 GW of offshore wind energy in the German and Dutch North Sea.
