Rostock Site to Become Baltic Gateway for 50Hertz

May 15, 2025, by Adnan Memija

German transmission system operator (TSO) 50Hertz has unveiled its plans to build a new operating site in Rostock on the Baltic Sea to support its offshore operations. The 90-million facility is scheduled to be completed in 2028.

50Hertz Rostock Offshore Quarter — *Computer animation of the Rostock Offshore Quarter at Warnemünde harbour. Photo: Bastmann+Zavracky Architekten.*

The investment costs for the new location amount to around EUR 90 million, with Germany’s federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania supporting the development with approximately EUR 68 million.

50Hertz said the Rostock Offshore Quarter (ROQ) is located near the open sea and is ideal for operating electrotechnical facilities on the Baltic Sea.

The ROQ in the port of Warnemünde will have a 190-metre-long warehouse and logistics hall in which several kilometres of submarine cables will be stored on four large turntables for repairs in the event of accidents. The warehouse is equipped with two crane runways for up to 20 tonnes of heavy loads.

Supply ships up to 200 metres long will be able to moor at the publicly accessible harbour quay of the ROQ, and two crew transfer vessels (CTVs) will also be moored for transporting personnel to the offshore platforms.

In the light-flooded five-storey office building of the ROQ, 135 permanent workplaces will be created, including in the Maritime Coordination Centre (MCC), which plans the deployment of ships and helicopters, monitors the sea space, and takes over maritime crisis management in the event of accidents.

“The Rostock Offshore Quarter will be our gateway to the Baltic Sea. We are building an ensemble of buildings here which fulfils various functions and at the same time is architecturally sophisticated, both outside and inside,” said Dirk Biermann, Chief Operations Officer at 50Hertz.

The Rostock-based company Bastmann+Zavracky is implementing the project as architect and general planner, with the construction planned to commence in 2026. Until then, the Rostock Port and Seamen’s office will have to carry out preparatory work and approval procedures, as well as demolition work and remediation of contaminated sites.

“Now that the city of 50Hertz has made the property available to 50Hertz as part of a heritable building right contract, the next steps are now being taken in close coordination. Building permit, planning approval procedures for the redesign of the shipyard basin, remediation of contaminated sites, expansion of the water depth and more,” said Eva-Maria Kröger, Mayor of the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock.

After moving into the facility in 2028, up to 180 people will work in the ROQ. In addition to the headquarters in Berlin and the location in Neuenhagen in Brandenburg, this will then be the third-largest 50Hertz site.

Six offshore platforms and grid connection systems are currently in operation for the Baltic 1 and Baltic 2, Wikinger, Arkona, Arcadis Ost 1, and Baltic Eagle offshore wind farms. Three more platforms will be added in the next few years for the Gennaker and Windanker wind farms and a converter platform for the Ostwind 4 project after 2030.