TenneT Initiates Critical Maasvlakte Dune Drilling for 2 GW IJmuiden Ver Beta and Gamma 525 kV HVDC Landfall
Dutch transmission system operator TenneT has launched high-precision horizontal directional drilling (HDD) beneath coastal sea defenses at Maasvlakte in Rot...
TenneT Initiates Critical Maasvlakte Dune Drilling for 2 GW IJmuiden Ver Beta and Gamma 525 kV HVDC Landfall
Dutch transmission system operator TenneT has launched high-precision horizontal directional drilling (HDD) beneath coastal sea defenses at Maasvlakte in Rotterdam, creating underground conduit passages to pull 525 kV extruded subsea direct-current cables ashore from the 2 GW IJmuiden Ver Beta and Gamma offshore wind developments.
- Publish date: 2026-09-28
- Category: HVDC & Substations
- Original source: TenneT TSO B.V. & Port of Rotterdam
- Reading time: 5 min
Zero-Impact Coastal Crossing Beneath Dutch Primary Sea Defenses
To bring bulk power from the 2 GW IJmuiden Ver offshore wind zone ashore without disrupting Rotterdam’s primary flood defenses or coastal dune ecosystems, TenneT’s civil contractors commenced precision horizontal directional drilling operations on September 28, 2026.
Drill rigs are boring five parallel conduits extending over 1,200 meters from the Maasvlakte coastline out beneath the North Sea surf zone, reaching depths of up to 28 meters below the seabed. These ducts will house twin ±525 kV XLPE direct-current cable systems and fiber-optic communication conduits.
Direct Link to Maasvlakte 2 GW Converter Substation and 380 kV Grid
Once pulled through the dune conduits, the subsea cables will terminate at TenneT’s new Maasvlakte converter substation. The facility incorporates massive 525 kV converter transformers and symmetrical monopole modular multilevel converters (MMC) engineered by consortium partners to convert direct current into 380 kV AC.
The site connects directly into the South Holland high-voltage backbone, providing massive decarbonization potential for the petrochemical and industrial manufacturing clusters of the Port of Rotterdam.
Milestone in the 2 GW Standardized Offshore Grid Architecture
IJmuiden Ver represents the inaugural commercial deployment of TenneT’s standardized 2 GW, 525 kV HVDC transmission blueprint, which doubles transmission throughput per cable pair compared to legacy 320 kV systems and slashes offshore platform footprints by 30%.
Pull-through of the first 525 kV subsea cable strings is scheduled for early 2027, maintaining the project trajectory toward initial power energization in 2028.
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