Vattenfall takes investment decision for Germany's biggest offshore wind farm
Chemicals giant BASF earlier secured long-term supply contract for power from 1.6GW array that is slated to be commissioned in 2028
Vattenfall has made the final investment decision on the Nordlicht 1 and 2 offshore wind farms, which jointly will have 1.6GW in capacity.
Chemicals giant BASF earlier secured access to a long-term supply of renewable electricity from the array.
Construction of the 980MW Nordlicht 1 and the 630MW Nordlicht 2 projects is slated to begin next year. The wind farms are expected to be operational in 2028. Nordlicht 1 alone, at the time of commissioning, will be Germany’s biggest single wind farm, Vattenfall said.
“The Nordlicht offshore wind cluster makes a significant milestone in the path to enabling fossil freedom,” said Helene Biström, head of the wind business area at Vattenfall.
“By accelerating Germany’s energy transition and supporting industrial decarbonisation, it will provide clean, reliable energy while driving innovation and sustainability in the sector.
“We look forward to realising this important project in close collaboration with our supply chain partners.”
This agreement will secure renewable power for BASF’s chemical production in Europe at a time when the chemical company needs large quantities of green power to decarbonise its production.
As part of Vattenfall’s sustainability efforts, both wind farms will feature wind turbines towers partially made with low-emission steel, reducing their overall carbon footprint by 16%.
Vattenfall and BASF have a conditional agreement with Vestas for the supply and installation of 112 of the Danish OEM’s V236-15.0 MW offshore wind turbines for Nordlicht 1 and 2 offshore.
The 16% CO₂ reduction mentioned is based on an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) of the steel, which will be produced at an intensity of 0.9 t CO₂ per ton of steel. In comparison, the standard steel used for Vestas’ tower production has an intensity of 2.6 t CO₂ per ton of steel.
The final investment decision for Nordlicht 2 has been made on a conditional basis, pending the receipt of the necessary permit.
The twin wind farms are located 85 kilometres north of the island of Borkum in the German North Sea. Once fully operational, power output is expected to amount to about 6TWh per year.
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