The German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) has granted planning permission for RWE’s Nordseecluster B, comprising NC 3 and NC 4 sites that will make up the 900 MW offshore wind farm. Nordseecluster B is the second phase of the 1.6 GW Nordseecluster development, located in the German North Sea, where the 660 MW Nordseecluster A is already under construction.
RWE said on 27 March that BSH’s permission allows the company to start offshore construction next year.
The Nordseecluster is being built 46 kilometres north of the German island of Borkum and 50 kilometres north of the German island of Juist.
At Nordseecluster A, all the foundations have been installed, and the installation of the 44 Vestas V236-15.0 MW wind turbines is due to begin this summer, with the first Nordseecluster phase scheduled to be fully connected to the grid by early 2027.
Production of some components for Nordseecluster B, which will feature 60 V236-15.0 MW wind turbines, has already begun.
Installation of the foundations is scheduled to start next year, followed by the installation of the 60 turbines in 2028.
Nordseecluster B is scheduled to commence commercial operations in early 2029, according to RWE, which owns Nordseecluster together with Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM).
The 1.6 GW Nordseecluster will generate around 6.5 TWh of electricity annually and will also power industrial customers, including technology companies such as Amazon, with whom RWE recently signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for 110 MW from Nordseecluster B.
RWE also recently signed a ten-year PPA with Munich Airport for 40 GWh of electricity per year from its Nordseecluster A offshore wind farm.