The first wind turbine has successfully been installed at the German offshore wind farm Borkum Riffgrund 3. With an installed capacity of 913 MW, it will be the largest offshore wind farm in Germany when it is in operation. Borkum Riffgrund 3 is also the first offshore wind farm in the world to be contracted without subsidies. This has been made possible primarily by several long-term corporate power purchase agreements (CPPA), which Ørsted has signed with industrial and technology customers. The wind farm is jointly owned by Ørsted and Nuveen Infrastructure. It is located approximately 72 km off the coast of Lower Saxony in Germany and covers an area of 75 sq km.
This important milestone for Borkum Riffgrund 3 comes shortly after the successful delivery of first power from the 253 MW Gode Wind 3 Offshore Wind Farm, which Ørsted and Nuveen Infrastructure are constructing simultaneously with Borkum Riffgrund 3. Together, the two offshore wind farms will almost double Ørsted’s total installed capacity in Germany, to 2.5 GW, and make an important contribution to the country’s green transformation. The Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm is due to be commissioned in 2025.
Peter Obling, head of Continental Europe at Ørsted, said: “Borkum Riffgrund 3 is an icebreaker in offshore wind. It was the first offshore wind project in the world to be awarded on a merchant basis, and it’s the first offshore wind farm in Germany to break the 900 MW mark.
Felix Gschnell, programme director for Borkum Riffgrund 3 and Gode Wind 3, said: “We have been developing and building Borkum Riffgrund 3 since winning the auction in 2017 and 2018. Achieving the first installed wind turbine is a great success for the project and a proud moment for the entire team. Our full focus is now on continuing to complete the project safely and on schedule.”
Borkum Riffgrund 3’s first wind turbine was installed by the installation vessel ‘Seaway Ventus’ from Seaway 7. The continuing installation will be carried out in equal parts by the vessel ‘Wind Osprey’ from Cadeler. A total of 83 Siemens Gamesa wind turbines, each with a rated capacity of 11 MW, will be installed at the offshore wind farm.
No offshore substation
Borkum Riffgrund 3 is the first offshore wind farm to be built by Ørsted in Germany without an offshore substation. The new connection concept provides for a direct connection of the wind turbines via 66 kV connection cables to the DolWin epsilon offshore converter platform operated by the German transmission system operator, TenneT. Parallel to Borkum Riffgrund 3, the installation of the wind turbines for Gode Wind 3 (253 MW) are already underway. Both project sites are located close to Ørsted’s operational offshore wind farms, Borkum Riffgrund 1 and 2 and Gode Wind 1 and 2. As with Ørsted’s current offshore wind farms, operation and maintenance will be carried out from Norden-Norddeich and Emden in East Frisia in Germany and Eemshaven, Netherlands.
