Vattenfall, BASF Pick Vestas for 1.6 GW Nordlicht Offshore Wind Project

Business & Finance

June 18, 2024, by Adnan Memija

Vestas has revealed the client and project details for an agreement first announced on 13 June. This conditional agreement, signed with Vattenfall and BASF, involves supplying 112 V236-15.0 MW wind turbines for the Nordlicht 1 and 2 offshore wind projects in the German North Sea.

Within the scope of the contract is furthermore a 5-year service and warranty agreement followed by an operational support agreement until year 30.

According to Vestas, the companies are also underlining their ambitions to reduce their CO2 emissions along the entire value chain.

The top sections of 56 out of 112 towers will be made with low-emission steel, accounting for 24 per cent of the mass of the heavy steel plates used for the wind farm area and leading to a 16 per cent reduction in the overall carbon footprint, according to the wind turbine manufacturer.

The low-emission steel is fabricated using 100 per cent steel scrap melted in an electric arc furnace powered by 100 per cent wind energy, reducing the carbon footprint by 66 per cent compared to heavy steel plates made via a conventional steelmaking route, said Vestas.

This isn’t the first time Vestas has announced its use of low-emission steel for producing tower sections. At the start of this year, the company disclosed that tower sections constructed with low-emission steel would be installed in the Polish Baltic Sea as part of its collaboration with ArcelorMittal.

“Wind energy is an essential cornerstone on the path to fossil freedom, which moves society forward. With Vestas, we now have a partner for our Nordlicht projects at our side, with whom we share the same values in terms of sustainable energy solutions,” said Catrin Jung, Head of Offshore Wind at Vattenfall.

“Sustainability is an integral part of our strategy, and I am delighted that by using low-emission steel, we are also demonstrating that sustainable products are the future,” stated Horatio Evers, Managing Director at BASF Renewable Energy GmbH.

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The Nordlicht wind farm area is situated 85 kilometres north of the Borkum Island in the German North Sea and consists of two separate locations, namely Nordlicht 1 with a capacity of around 980 MW and Nordlicht 2 with around 630 MW.

The construction of the offshore wind projects is planned to commence in 2026 with the wind turbines expected to be installed in 2027 (Nordlicht 1) and 2028 (Nordlicht 2), respectively.

Once fully operational, electricity production is expected to total around 6 TWh per year, which is equivalent to the electricity consumption of 1.6 million German households, according to Vestas.