The operators Vattenfall and BASF have now signed contracts with four companies for the planned "Nordlicht" offshore wind farm off the North Sea island of Borkum. According to the two companies, the contracts include steel foundations to be built and cables to be installed. According to Vattenfall, construction is due to start in 2026. Commissioning is scheduled for 2028.

The wind farm at two locations delivers an output of around 980 megawatts with "Nordlicht 1" and around 630 megawatts with "Nordlicht 2". The total annual output at full load is approx. 6 terawatt hours; enough to supply around 1.7 million households with electricity.

The turbines for the two wind farms are being developed by Vattenfall and will be erected 85 kilometres north of the island of Borkum. Vattenfall intends to use its share of the electricity generation to supply its customers in Germany with fossil-free electricity. The chemical company BASF, which has a 49 per cent stake in the projects, intends to use its share of the electricity to supply its production sites in Europe, in particular its headquarters in Ludwigshafen.

Speeding up

Unlike the expansion of solar energy, where Germany is currently achieving its expansion targets, the expansion of wind power on land and at sea is falling hopelessly short of the targets set. The fact that more wind turbines were approved in 2024 than ever before gives hope. However, construction is being slowed down in part because heavy goods vehicles often have difficulties transporting the large and heavy components on dilapidated roads or due to a lack of heavy goods quays in harbours. Supply bottlenecks are also an obstacle, for example with transformer stations that are needed for wind farms. So there is still a lot to do.

Further information on the expansion of renewable energies (wind, solar, storage) in Germany can be found on this page of the NDR.

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kdk, NDR