The Swedish energy company Vattenfall will begin construction of two offshore wind farms off Borkum.
“Nordlicht 1” and “Nordlicht 2” will supply a total of 1.61 GW of renewable electricity. The work is scheduled for completion in 2028.
The wind farm, which is to be built around 85 km off the coast of the East Frisian island of Borkum, will consist of 112 wind turbines from the manufacturer Vestas. Each turbine from the V236 model series has an output of 15 MW. “Nordlicht 1” will deliver a total of 980 MW, “Nordlicht 2” a further 630 MW for a combined output of 1.61 GW – making it Germany’s largest offshore wind farm with an output exceeding that of a modern nuclear power plant.
The turbines are expected to provide around 6 TWh of green electricity per year. The construction itself is also characterized by sustainability: the turbine towers are partly made of low-emission steel, which should reduce the park’s CO2 footprint by 16%. Instead of the estimated 2.6 tons of CO2 per ton of steel, only 0.9 tons will be emitted.
“The Nordlicht offshore wind cluster is an important milestone on the way to a future without fossil fuels,” said Helene Biström, Head of Business Area Wind at Vattenfall. “By accelerating the energy transition in Germany and supporting industrial decarbonization, it will deliver clean, reliable energy while promoting innovation and sustainability in the industry. We look forward to implementing this important project in close cooperation with our partners along the supply chain.”
As part of the investment decision, Vattenfall will buy back the shares in the Northern Lights Cluster acquired from chemical company BASF in 2024. Both companies will cooperate with each other in the long term to secure the supply of renewable electricity, as the Swedes announced.
