Vattenfall Reaches Final Investment Decision to Build Germany’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm

March 26, 2025, by Adnan Memija

Vattenfall has made the final investment decision on the Nordlicht 1 and 2 offshore wind farms in the German North Sea, with the construction scheduled to begin in 2026. In addition, the Swedish utility has decided to repurchase the shares in the Nordlicht cluster that BASF acquired in 2024.

The final investment decision for Nordlicht 2 has been made on a conditional basis, pending the receipt of the necessary permit.

Located 85 kilometres north of Borkum Island in the German North Sea, the Nordlicht wind cluster will have a net capacity of more than 1.6 GW, with Nordlicht 1 set to become the largest offshore wind project in Germany.

Nordlicht 1 will have a total output of approximately 980 MW, while Nordlicht 2 will have a capacity of around 630 MW.

“By accelerating Germany’s energy transition and supporting industrial decarbonisation, it will provide clean, reliable energy while driving innovation and sustainability in the sector. We look forward to realising this important project in close collaboration with our supply chain partners,” said Helene Biström, Head of Business Area Wind at Vattenfall.

At the beginning of this year, Vattenfall and BASF signed contracts with several companies for the two offshore wind farms.

EEW Special Pipe Constructions (EEW SPC) will manufacture 112 monopile foundations that will hold Vestas’ V236-15.0 MW wind turbines.

CS Wind Offshore will supply the transition pieces connecting the turbines to the monopiles. Starting in 2025, CS Wind Offshore’s production site at Aalborg Port, Denmark, will manufacture the 68 transition pieces for Nordlicht 1 and the 44 transition pieces for Nordlicht 2.

The foundations will be transported and installed by DEME, while Jan De Nul is tasked with installing 196 kilometres of inter-array cables that will connect the turbines. The cables will be supplied by TKF under a contract signed with the developer in 2023.

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As part of Vattenfall’s sustainability efforts, both wind farms will feature turbine towers partially made with low-emission steel, reducing their overall carbon footprint by 16 percent.

Norway’s Havfram is responsible for the transportation and installation of wind turbines.

The Nordlicht 1 and 2 offshore wind farms are expected to be operational in 2028. Once operational, electricity production is projected to total around 6 TWh annually.

BASF has decided to sell its 49 per cent equity share in the 1.6 GW Nordlicht project back to Vattenfall. The two companies signed a contract for the two offshore wind farms in April 2024.

In parallel, BASF continues the collaboration with Vattenfall by securing a long-term supply of renewable power for the company’s chemical production in Europe.

According to BASF, the transaction reflects the firm’s approach to capital allocation as part of its “Winning Ways” strategy that was launched in the third quarter of 2024; it results in a non-cash effective disposal loss of around EUR 300 million in BASF’s Group earnings in the first quarter of 2025.

In January 2025, Vattenfall signed a power purchase agreement with LyondellBasell (LYB), one of the world’s largest plastic producers, for its Nordlicht 1 offshore wind farm in Germany.

Under the agreement, the company will buy 450 GWh of electricity generated by the wind farm each year for 15 years, starting in 2028.