Nordlicht 1 Offshore Wind Turbine Order Lands on Vestas’s Desk

April 1, 2025, by Adrijana Buljan

Vestas has secured a firm order for the Nordlicht 1 offshore wind project in Germany, for which the Danish OEM will deliver 68 of its V236-15.0 MW wind turbines. The total order of 1,020 MW for Vattenfall’s wind farm that has a grid connection capacity of 980 MW includes an additional 40 MW to use the connection capacity as efficiently as possible, according to Vestas.

The agreement with Nordlicht 1 developer Vattenfall covers the supply, installation, and commissioning of the wind turbines. The scope of the contract includes a comprehensive five-year service and warranty agreement followed by a 25-year operational support agreement, Vestas said on 31 March.

The construction of Nordlicht 1 is scheduled to start in 2026, with the wind turbines expected to be installed in 2027.

The firm order for Vestas follows a conditional agreement with Vattenfall signed in June 2024 and the final investment decision (FID) the developer made on the project this March.

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Vestas signed conditional agreements for both Nordlicht 1 and the second phase, the 630 MW Nordlicht 2, last year. For the latter, Vattenfall made a final investment decision on a conditional basis, pending the receipt of the necessary permit.

Both Nordlicht wind farms, totalling 1.6 GW in installed capacity, will feature turbine towers partially made with low-emission steel, reducing their overall carbon footprint by 16 per cent, according to Vestas and Vattenfall.

“With Nordlicht, we are staying on course towards fossil freedom – not just by delivering Germany’s largest offshore wind farm, but by making a significant investment that supports the decarbonisation of industry and strengthens the foundation for a clean and reliable energy system. We are especially happy to continue our trusted collaboration with Vestas, combining innovation and low-emission technologies to accelerate the energy transition in Germany and Europe”, said Catrin Jung, Head of Business Unit Offshore at Vattenfall.

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, Vestas says.

“We are delighted to deploy the V236-15.0 MW wind turbines to Nordlicht 1, and to additionally deliver low-emission steel for the project. I would like to thank Vattenfall for the excellent collaboration and partnership throughout the project stages”, said Nils de Baar, President Vestas Northern & Central Europe.

Located 85 kilometres north off the island of Borkum in the German North Sea, both Nordlicht 1 and Nordlicht 2 are expected to enter operation in 2028.