RWE has become the sole owner of the 1.6 GW cluster of offshore wind farms in the German North Sea known as the Nordseecluster, which consists of four sites in different stages of development and located north of the island of Juist. It was 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 … 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, designated A and B. Two wind farms (N-3.8 and N-3.7, designated Nordseecluster A) with a combined capacity of 660 MW are currently in the permit application phase. 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 from 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. One has been revealed – Vestas will be delivering 104 offshore WTGs, each with a capacity of 15 MW. RWE expects to achieve substantial economies of scale and leverage synergies during the development, construction and subsequent operation of the Nordseecluster.  

The Nordseecluster will be located in close proximity to the existing 332 MW Nordsee One wind farm, which RWE will continue to operate jointly with Northland Power.

Image courtesy of RWE