Amprion GmbH - Experts & Thought Leaders

Prysmian, the world renowned company in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, has finalized three contracts worth in aggregate around €5 billion with Amprion, one of the pioneering European TSOs, for two offshore grid connection systems — BalWin1 and BalWin2 — and the underground cable project DC34. The contracts, which are now added to Prysmian’s order backlog, follow the selection of Prysmian as the preferred bidder in August 2023. milestone for Prysmian This package deal is the largest in value and in km of cable ever awarded to Prysmian This package deal is the largest in value and in km of cable ever awarded to Prysmian. It includes in aggregate approximately 4,400 km of ±525 kV HVDC cables and Dedicated Metallic Return (DMR) cables, of which around 3,400 km are land cables and 1,000 km are submarine cables. "The three contracts with Amprion are an important milestone for Prysmian as they underline once again the trusting cooperation between the two companies. We are glad to actively contribute as a reliable partner to the energy transition," commented Hakan Ozmen, EVP Prysmian Transmission Division. Germany’s overall plan "We have secured the necessary cable resources for three important energy transition projects. Contracts like the ones with Prysmian are essential in order to achieve our offshore expansion targets. For us, this is a major step towards project success," said Dr. Hendrik Neumann, CTO of Amprion. The three projects are part of Germany’s overall plan to install 70 GW of offshore wind energy by 2045 and will support the transmission of the energy generated in the North Sea to consumers in the Western and Southern regions of the country. industrial heart of Germany BalWin1 and BalWin2 each will transmit up to 2 GW of offshore wind energy, produced in areas 9 and 10 of the German North Sea, to the grid connection points, thus supporting the energy transition in the industrial heart of Germany. In addition, DC34 — as part of the Rhein-Main-Link — will connect the substation in Lower Saxony to a second substation in the federal state of Hesse to transmit up to 2 GW of wind energy to consumers in the Rhine-Main metropolitan area.

Prysmian Group, the pioneer in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, has been selected by the TSO Amprion, one of the European TSOs, as the preferred bidder for the two Offshore Grid Connection Systems BalWin1 and BalWin2 and the underground cable project DC34.  The preferred bidder agreement provides an obligation on the parties to negotiate in good faith the outstanding items of the projects with a target to execute the final contracts by 15 January 2024. Prysmian is committed to reserve the required production and installation capacity until the aforementioned date. The contracts are valued in aggregate at around 4.5 billion Euros. Energy transition targets The three projects are part of Germany’s overall plan to install 70 GW of offshore wind energy by 2045 and will support the transmission of the energy generated in the North Sea to consumers in the Western and Southern regions of the country. “This agreement is a huge step towards realizing these three important projects in time. Thus, the major components for our offshore projects are secured until 2030,” commented Hendrik Neumann, CTO of Amprion. “Prysmian is highly committed to the development of greener and smarter power grids, supporting Amprion as one of our key customers in it's important energy transition targets,” commented Hakan Ozmen, EVP Projects BU, Prysmian Group. Fibre optic cable BalWin1 and BalWin2 will transmit each up to 2 GW of energy from the future offshore wind farms BalWin1 and BalWin2 will transmit each up to 2 GW of energy from the future offshore wind farms to be located in the German North Sea BalWin Cluster to the grid connection points in Wehrendorf (Lower Saxony) and Westerkappeln (North Rhine-Westphalia) and thus supporting the energy transition in the industrial heart of Germany.  Each cable system will consist of two single-core ±525 kV HVDC copper cables with XLPE insulation for the submarine sections and P-Laser insulation for the land underground sections, plus a dedicated metallic return cable and a fibre optic cable. BalWin1 will utilize approx. 1,070 km of cables along a 358 km route, whereas BalWin2 will use approx. 1,100 km of cables over a route of 376 km. Dedicated metallic return cable DC34 (Number 82 of the Federal Requirement Plan Act) as part of the Rhein-Main-Link will instead connect the substation in the area of Ovelgönne/Rastede/Wiefelstede/Westerstede (Lower Saxony) to a second substation in Bürstadt (Hesse) to transmit up to 2 GW of energy produced by the offshore wind farms in the North Sea to consumers in the Rhine-Main metropolitan area. The cable system will consist of two single-core ±525 kV HVDC copper cables with P-Laser insulation, including a dedicated metallic return cable. DC34 will consist of up to 2,100 km of cables for this cross-Germany route.

Amprion, the Dortmund-based transmission system operator, and E.ON, Germany’s largest distribution system operator, have agreed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to deepen their cooperation. In this way, the companies intend to make a joint contribution to the fundamental transformation of the energy system. “We can only meet the increasingly complex challenges of the energy transition by collaborating across network operator boundaries. Jointly developing innovations, driving forward digitalization and optimizing processes are the key to a reliable and climate-friendly energy system of the future,” said E.ON’s COO – Networks, Thomas König. E.ON – Amprion partnership Amprion’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Hans-Jürgen Brick, said “The success of the energy transition will be decided at the interface between the transmission and distribution grids. We are convinced of the advantages of close cooperation between the different network levels. Our goal is to jointly get them ready for 2050.” Collaboration between the high-voltage and extra-high-voltage networks has been established practice for some years. However, the energy transition requires further efforts across all network levels to also successfully integrate renewable energies. The partners are prepared to share developments, discuss them on a wider basis and work together to deliver further improvements. Concepts for jointly used operating resources and assets The two companies want to develop concepts for jointly used, innovative operating resources and assets Cooperation between Amprion and E.ON covers three main areas, which will see the launch of a number of joint projects over the coming months. The two companies want to develop concepts for jointly used, innovative operating resources and assets. One example of this is a decentralized large battery storage systems, also known as ‘grid boosters’ among experts. A further focus of the companies’ collaboration is network planning to ensure that the necessary expansion of the transmission and distribution networks is even more closely coordinated so that it can be delivered as safely and efficiently as possible. Close cooperation in controlling the networks And finally, the partners want to cooperate closely in controlling the networks and developing joint solutions. After all, with the end of nuclear energy in Germany in 2022 and the phasing out of coal by 2038 at the latest, electricity will have to be generated primarily from renewables, which poses new challenges for system stability. E.ON and Amprion want to make a contribution to the ensuring the security of the German electricity grid.