Wind

Orsted finishes Germany's largest wind farm but power has nowhere to go

Developer completes installation at Borkum Riffgrund 3 but power left stranded by grid link delays

Orsted's Borkum Riffgrund 3 wind farm in the German North Sea.
Orsted's Borkum Riffgrund 3 wind farm in the German North Sea.Photo: Orsted
European Editor, Recharge

Orsted has installed the last turbine at its 913MW Borkum Riffgrund 3 wind farm in the North Sea, the first zero-subsidy offshore array built in Germany and the nation's largest wind farm constructed so far.

But while all 83 Siemens Gamesa 11MW turbines are erected at some 72km off the coast, the country’s first near-gigawatt scale project can’t feed into the German grid as transmission system operator TenneT hasn’t completed the DolWin5 grid link yet.

Major industrial and technology firms that have closed corporate power purchase agreements (CPPAs) with the developer for most of the array's power output, including internet retailer Amazon, chemicals giant BASF and Covestro, supermarket chain REWE and internet giant Google.
WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson said the failure to complete the connection for Borkum Riffgrund 3 was a stark illustration of the grid challenges facing wind installation in the EU, which saw a 3GW year-on-year fall in 2024.

“That’s 1GW we could have had, had the Germans managed to do the grid connection for Borkum Riffgrund. That’s very frustrating. The industry spends so much time and effort and money building a wind farm, and it can’t be connected to the grid yet.”

TenneT blames Covid

Dutch-German transmission system operator TenneT last summer warned Orsted that the completion of the grid link would be delayed until mid-December this year. The TSO originally had planned to connect Borkum Riffgrund 3 to the German grid in 2024.

TenneT now told Recharge that the DolWin5 offshore converter platform is expected to be installed in the North Sea in the second quarter of this year. After final tests, it is not slated to be commissioned before the autumn.

The TSO said that the beginning of steel works for the DolWin5 platform at a shipyard in Singapore in late 2020 coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic, which was the origin of the delay.

“Steel and welding work is mainly carried out by foreign skilled workers who were unable to enter and work in Singapore during the pandemic, or only to a very limited extent,” a TenneT press official said.

“As a result, absenteeism at the shipyard increased significantly from the summer of 2021. Despite personnel and organisational measures, it became clear that the planned completion in the shipyard and the subsequent installation of the platform in the German North Sea would be delayed.”

Amazon and BASF didn’t immediately get back to Recharge when asked whether the delay of power deliveries would cause them financial or other issues.

REWE said delays in large projects such as this were normal.

"Orsted and EHA [REWE's energy trading unit] are in constant communication on this issue," a company spokesman said, adding that due to confidentiality agreements, the company couldn't comment on contractual matters. Covestro confirmed the delay of the PPA, but also said it couldn’t comment on contractual details.

Orsted likely won’t face compensation payments due to the late start of the PPAs as those seem to include clauses for such events, Recharge has learned.

However, the company could face losses from lost revenue at wholesale power markets for electricity from the 127MW in capacity not covered by PPAs.

UPDATED to add comment by REWE
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Published 15 January 2025, 09:33Updated 15 January 2025, 13:09
EuropeOffshore windOrstedTenneTBASF