Ørsted Clears German Offshore Wind Farms for Takeoff

Ørsted has taken the final investment decision (FID) on the 242 MW Gode Wind 3 and the 900 MW Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farms in the German North Sea.

Gode Wind 3 and Borkum Riffgrund 3 are expected to be commissioned in 2024 and 2025, respectively.

Jörg Kubitza, Managing Director for Ørsted in Germany, said: “With the decision to build Gode Wind 3 and Borkum Riffgrund 3, we’ll expand our German portfolio to six offshore wind farms and a total investment volume since 2012 of around 7.5 billion euros. While Borkum Riffgrund 3 will be the biggest wind farm in Germany to date, gigawatt-scale wind farms should be the norm when planning future offshore wind buildout. Large-scale projects will be key to securing the green energy volumes needed to reach climate neutrality in Germany by 2045, an effort for which offshore wind remains the most suitable source of renewable energy.”

Growing demand from corporates for long-term power purchase agreements can complement regulatory mechanisms such as contracts for difference, which create long-term price certainty for developers as well as for electricity customers. Both are crucial to meet future green power demand from industry and society, Ørsted said.

Ørsted has signed CPPAs on Borkum Riffgrund 3 for a total of 786 MW with Covestro (100 MW), Amazon (350 MW), REWE Group (100 MW), BASF (186 MW), and Google (50 MW) to support the final investment decision by creating a large degree of revenue certainty for Borkum Riffgrund 3.

”Borkum Riffgrund 3 is a landmark project, and we’re proud that Ørsted is once again leading the way by being the first to take FID on a merchant offshore wind project in Germany. We’ve brought this project forward by signing several large-scale power purchase agreements with leading corporates, bringing in a partner for 50% of the wind farm, and procuring and installing Borkum Riffgrund 3 and Gode Wind 3 as one gigawatt-scale project,” Rasmus Errboe, Head of Region Continental Europe at Ørsted, said.

Back in October, Glennmont Partners became a 50 per cent shareholder of Borkum Riffgrund 3. The agreement with Glennmont was made subject to certain conditions precedent, including Ørsted’s final investment decision. With the final investment decision, project permit, merger clearance, and foreign investment clearance now in place, Ørsted expects to complete the transaction no later than Q1 2022.

Located close to Ørsted’s existing offshore wind farms Borkum Riffgrund 1&2 and Gode Wind 1&2, Gode Wind 3 and Borkum Riffgrund 3 will feature Siemens gamesa 11 MW offshore wind turbines.

In the German offshore wind auctions in 2017 and 2018, Ørsted was awarded the right to build five offshore wind projects, today known under the consolidated names Gode Wind 3 and Borkum Riffgrund 3.

With bids of EUR 0 per MWh, Borkum Riffgrund 3 was the world’s first large-scale offshore wind farm to be awarded with a zero bid, the developer said. This was made possible by a number of cost drivers, including the installation of next-generation wind turbine technology, very good site conditions and high wind speeds, and anticipated revenue-stabilising CPPA’s with corporates.

Gode Wind 3 will receive a weighted average subsidy of EUR 81 per MWh.