RWE & Northland Power Opt for Vestas 15 MW Turbines for 1.6 GW Offshore Wind Development in Germany

RWE and Northland Power have selected Vestas as the preferred supplier and the company’s 15 MW turbine model as the technology of choice for their Nordseecluster offshore wind projects in Germany. Nordseecluster is planned to have a total capacity of up to 1.6 GW across four offshore wind farm sites.

Under the preferred supplier agreement, Vestas will deliver at least 104 of its V236-15.0 MW offshore wind turbines and also sign a service contract, both subject to the two joint venture partners’ final investment decision for the two individual phases of Nordseecluster.

The Nordseecluster will be constructed in two phases, Nordseecluster A and Nordseecluster B, each comprising two offshore wind farms.

The two wind farms making up the first phase are currently in the permit application stage, while RWE and Northland Power plan to secure the two sites for the second phase by exercising the step-in rights in the German offshore wind auctions this year, as they did for the Nordseecluster A sites (N-3.8 and N-3.7) in 2021.

Nordseecluster A will have a combined capacity of 660 MW. Of the 104 Vestas turbines in total, 44 are reserved for this first phase of the development, which is planned to begin installing turbines in 2026 and go into commercial operation in early 2027.

The two wind farm sites of the Nordseecluster B project (N-3.6 and N-3.5) will add a further 900 MW of capacity. Offshore construction works for Nordseeclsuter B are expected to begin in 2028 with commercial operation to start in early 2029.

The Nordseecluster sites are located north of the island of Juist in the German North Sea, in close proximity to the existing 332 MW Nordsee One wind farm which RWE and Northland Power co-developed and continue to operate jointly.

Last year, the two partners released details of their plans for Nordseecluster wind farms, revealing they planned to use 15 MW wind turbines and also eye integrating hydrogen production capabilities in the Nordsee Two wind farm (N-3.8).

The developers say they expect to achieve substantial economies of scale and leverage synergies during the development, construction and operation of the four offshore wind farm sites. The preferred supplier agreement with Vestas, which encompasses all four projects, reflects the efficiency created when bundling activities such as procurement, RWE and Northland Power pointed out.