RWE (51%) and Northland Power (49%) are making progress on the deployment of their Nordseecluster. The companies have selected Van Oord as the preferred supplier for their up to 1.6-gigawatt (GW) cluster consisting of four offshore wind farm sites in the German North Sea. The Dutch company Van Oord shall transport and install the foundations for all 104 offshore wind turbines. All deliverables are subject to the final investment decision for the individual phases of Nordseecluster (A and B).
Benjamin Miethling, Northland Power’s Managing Director of the Nordseecluster: “The preferred supplier agreement recently signed with Van Oord, which encompasses all four projects, reflects the efficiency created when bundling procurement activities. We are happy to have this experienced contractor on board and expect to achieve further substantial economies of scale and leverage synergies during the development, construction and subsequent operation of the four wind farm sites.”
Sven Schulemann, RWE’s Managing Director of the Nordseecluster: “1,600,000 German households every year - this is the equivalent we will be able to supply once our 1.6-gigawatt cluster is completed. Having now secured the foundation installation contract is another great achievement and a further big step forward for our Nordseecluster.”
The Nordseecluster will be constructed in two phases. Two wind farms (N-3.8 and N-3.7) with a combined capacity of 660 megawatts (MW) are currently in the permit application phase. Installation of foundations is expected in 2025, with commercial operations starting in early 2027 for Nordseecluster A. Two further wind farms (N-3.6 and N-3.5) of the second phase (Nordseecluster B) will provide an additional 900 MW of capacity. The foundation installation works for Nordseecluster B are scheduled for 2027 with commercial operation to start at the beginning of 2029.
RWE and Northland Power plan to bid and to exercise their step-in rights in the German Government’s offshore wind auctions this year for both sites – as they did in 2021 for Nordseecluster A.
Van Oord is a Dutch international marine contractor and global company specialising in dredging, infrastructure and offshore energy. Van Oord is one of the world's leading companies in the industry. For the transport and installation of the foundations for the Nordseecluster, Van Oord will be using their new offshore installation vessel Boreas which is currently still under construction.
Arnoud Kuis, Managing Director Offshore Wind at Van Oord: “We look forward to deploying our brand-new offshore installation vessel Boreas on a large-scale project like this, which is exactly what the vessel is built for. We are proud to be part of this prestigious project and look forward to another successful cooperation with both RWE and Northland Power. By contributing to the realisation of Nordseecluster, Van Oord is again part of a major contribution to the transition towards renewable energy.”
The Nordseecluster will be in close proximity to the existing 332 MW Nordsee One wind farm which RWE and Northland Power co-developed and continue to operate jointly. In order to deploy the cluster, the partners will rely on experienced suppliers and on their own expertise in offshore wind.
For more information about the Nordseecluster, please visit: www.nordseecluster.com
A map of the Nordseecluster (credit: RWE) and pictures of the signing event and of the vessel (credit: Van Oord) can be found in the RWE media library.
