RWE Orders 2.76 GW of Offshore Wind Turbines at Vestas

RWE has placed a firm wind turbine order with Vestas for its 1,380 MW Vanguard East offshore wind project in the UK, shortly after confirming a firm order for Vanguard West, which will have the same installed capacity. 

For Vanguard East, Vestas will supply, deliver, and commission 92 of its V236-15.0 MW wind turbines, and will also be in charge of servicing them under a five-year service agreement, followed by a long-term operational support agreement.

RWE expects to make a final investment decision (FID) for both Vanguard East and Vanguard West in the summer of 2026, with wind turbine deliveries for Vanguard East to begin in the fourth quarter of 2028.

The commissioning of Vanguard West is expected in 2029, with Vanguard East following suit in 2030.

“RWE continues to make good progress towards realising both of these major offshore wind projects in the UK with the support of Vestas, our partners KKR and a strong supply chain. We are on track to make a final investment decision for both projects this summer, with preparations for the major offshore construction campaign following on”, said Sven Utermöhlen, CEO RWE Offshore Wind.

The (Norfolk) Vanguard projects were first developed by Vattenfall, which sold its three Norfolk developments (Norfolk Vanguard West, Norfolk Vanguard East, and Norfolk Boreas) to RWE in 2023/2024 for approximately EUR 1.1 billion.

In January this year, the UK government awarded 8.4 GW of offshore wind capacity in the seventh CfD round (AR7), with RWE’s projects accounting for 6.9 GW of that capacity.

RWE secured CfDs at a strike price of GBP 91.20/MWh (around EUR 105.25/MWh) for its Norfolk Vanguard East and Norfolk Vanguard West projects, two Dogger Bank South projects, and the Awel y Môr offshore wind farm.

Following the CfD award, RWE announced that the company had signed an agreement with KKR, under which the global investor would acquire a 50 per cent stake in each of the Norfolk Vanguard projects, and that it launched the process to raise non-recourse project finance debt for the two offshore wind farms with both the closing of the partnership transaction and the project financing expected later this year.