Deutsche WindGuard Backs Northland on Nordsee Two Bid

Deutsche WindGuard Offshore reported on 8 June that it had been appointed by Nordsee Two GmbH to provide comprehensive support in preparing its bid for the N-3.8 offshore wind site being auctioned in the German North Sea.

For the 433 MW Nordsee Two project, the German consultancy provided an optimised turbine layout, in-depth site assessment, and profound energy yield assessment to back up the estimate of cost and revenue. Deutsche WindGuard also elaborated concept foundation designs as a basis for an RFP.

The company said it had also been commissioned to develop concepts for an overall cluster solution, especially the connection of N-3.8 with the nearby area N-3.5. The N-3.5 site is part of the German 2023 bidding round and the location where the Nordsee Three offshore wind farm is planned to be built.

Nordsee Two GmbH, a joint venture between Canadian Northland Power (85 per cent) and German RWE Renewables (15 per cent), will place a bid for the N-3.8 site with a total output of 433 MW until 1 September in the German tender process opened this February.

The tender has been set with the maximum value of bids limited to 7.3 Eurocents per kWh. According to earlier information on the auctions and the projects, the Nordsee Two bid will most likely be based on the project not requiring subsidies.

As reported in April, Green Giraffe has been assisting with financial modeling and the structuring of the financing and offtake of the planned bid.

In the upcoming German auctions, Northland and RWE benefit from a “right of entry” as compensation measure for companies who held development rights in the respective areas prior to the introduction of the new central tender model.

The developers, through their respective joint venture companies Nordsee Two GmbH and Nordsee Three GmbH, have the step-in rights for both Nordsee Two and Nordsee Three projects, which have an allowed grid capacity of approximately 800 MW to 900 MW combined.

The rights, which Nordsee Two GmbH is now exercising, mean that the developers can step-in based on the lowest bid of any other bidder in the public auctions for these areas and acquire the right to construct and operate the projects.

The Nordsee Three offshore wind project, more specifically the N-3.5 site, could have a capacity of up to 420 MW, according to Germany’s Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH).