RWE is strengthening its position in the German offshore market. The company has become the sole owner of a 1.6-gigawatt (GW) cluster of offshore wind farms in the German North Sea. The Nordseecluster, consisting of four sites located north of the island of Juist, was formerly co-developed with Canadian company Northland Power, which has now sold its 49% shareholding in the cluster to RWE. The parties agreed on a purchase price of approximately €35 million.
Sven Utermöhlen, CEO RWE Offshore Wind: “Becoming the sole owner of the Nordseecluster aligns with our ambition to further grow our position as a global leader in offshore wind. As it will be Germany’s first gigawatt-scale offshore wind cluster, it will provide us with significant size and scale. When the Nordseecluster becomes operational in 2027 and 2029, we will be supporting the decarbonisation drive in our home market of Germany by generating around six terawatt hours of green electricity per year. And we are going for even more as we plan to take part in the large German offshore wind auctions in summer this year.”
The Nordseecluster will be constructed in two phases (Nordseecluster A and B). Two wind farms (N-3.8 and N-3.7, called Nordseecluster A) with a combined capacity of 660 megawatts (MW) are currently in the permit application phase. For Nordseecluster A offshore works are expected to start in 2025, with commercial operations starting in early 2027. The two further wind farms (N-3.6 and N-3.5) of the second phase (Nordseecluster B) are expected to add an additional 900 MW of capacity as of 2029. For both sites of Nordseecluster B, RWE plans to bid and to exercise its step-in rights in the German government’s offshore wind auctions this year.
Preferred suppliers of main components for all four sites have been selected, with Vestas, for example, delivering 104 offshore wind turbines with a capacity of 15 MW each. RWE expects to achieve substantial economies of scale and leverage synergies during the development, construction and subsequent operation of the Nordseecluster. In addition, RWE will use its extensive in-house capabilities to provide tailored green solutions to support the decarbonisation journey of its industrial and municipal customers.
The Nordseecluster will be in close proximity to the existing 332-MW Nordsee One wind farm, which RWE will continue to operate jointly with Northland Power.
A map of the Nordseecluster can be found in the RWE media library (credit: RWE).