Vattenfall has signed a contract with EMS Maritime Offshore (EMO), under which EMO will build and lease an operations and maintenance (O&M) base in Eemshaven, the Netherlands, to Vattenfall for its Nordlicht offshore wind farms in Germany.
According to the offshore wind developer, an advantage of the future O&M base is the existing infrastructure, which facilitates the berthing of service operation vessels (SOVs) and crew transfer vessels (CTVs), as well as Eemshaven’s proximity to the project areas in the German Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the North Sea.
EMS Maritime Offshore plans to begin construction of the O&M building later this year, with completion scheduled for October 2026. Vattenfall will then lease the building long-term.
EMO will also support the handling of SOVs during regular port calls through a parallel service agreement. The CTVs will be served via EMO’s own floating jetty on its own premises.
Construction work on the first phase of the 1.6 GW Nordlicht project, the 980 MW Nordlicht 1, will begin in 2026, with commissioning of the first turbines scheduled for autumn 2027.
Contracts have already been awarded in 2024 to Vestas for the supply of wind turbines, Havfram for transport and installation services, and TKF for the supply of inter-array cables.
The Nordlicht 1 offshore wind farm is expected to be fully operational in 2028.