Vattenfall snatches second major German offshore wind project from RWE
The Swedish developer held the right to buy the project at the same price as RWE having helped develop it at an earlier stage
Vattenfall has used its ‘step-in rights’ to snatch a 630MW German offshore wind farm from local player RWE, after pulling the same trick last year with an even larger project.
The Swedish state-owned power giant has won the right to N-6.6 or 'Nordlicht II' from Germany’s RWE after matching its bid for the project.
When starting regular offshore wind tenders in 2021, Germany introduced a legal entry right for companies that had spent huge sums developing an area but still didn't win with them in previous auctions exclusively for pre-developed zones.
To exercise a legal entry or ‘step-in’ right, a developer must match the winning bid for it in the tender.
Vattenfall held the step-in rights for both projects, which are near the island of Borkum in the German North Sea, that it has snapped up from RWE.
“These projects are milestones on the path to enable fossil freedom,” said Helene Biström, head of wind at Vattenfall.
“They will lead to a permanent reduction in Germany's dependence on fossil fuels. In addition, offshore wind energy can make an important contribution to the conversion to a more climate-friendly production in some key industries,” she added.
Vattenfall operates onshore and offshore wind farms totalling around 5GW and annual electricity generation of 12.6TWh. In Germany, Vattenfall operates the DanTysk and Sandbank wind farms.