Vattenfall has exercised its step-in-rights to develop a 980 MW offshore wind farm in the N-7.2 zone in the German North Sea after RWE won the tender with a zero-subsidy bid.
As part of the tender process for the N-7.2 project, Vattenfall has informed German authorities that it is exercising its right of entry to the project, which gives the Swedish energy company the right to develop and construct the wind farm.
Following a final investment decision by Vattenfall, the offshore wind farm could be connected to the German electricity grid sometime in 2027 and when fully developed, would have an output of 980 MW.
Catrin Jung, head of offshore wind department at Vattenfall, said that this is an important milestone for the company in Germany as the Government aims to increase offshore wind target to 30 GW by 2030.
“Vattenfall strives to contribute to this goal through this and other potential projects. Rapid expansion of renewable energy is key to permanently reducing Germany’s dependence on fossil fuels”, said Jung.
The N-7.2 project was originally developed under the name Global Tech II by a consortium led by Strabag SE.
Vattenfall acquired the project in 2016, but when a new offshore wind tendering system was put in place, the area was auctioned again.
Vattenfall held the step-in rights for the zone through Vattenfall Atlantis 1 and Global Tech 2 Offshore Wind GmbH.
The step-in rights were awarded to companies whose projects had not made it through the second transitional tenders in previous auctions.
The project is located 85 kilometres off the island of Borkum on the German North Sea coast.