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The Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm started feeding its first power to the German grid on December 3. The wind farm marks another milestone both for Germany and the EU, becoming the largest offshore wind farm in \u00d8rsted\u2019s German portfolio and one that has contracted more than four-fifths of its power with long-term corporate power purchase agreements.<\/p>\n
Located about 45 miles off the German coast in the North Sea, the project is being developed in a partnership between \u00d8rsted and Nuveen Infrastructure. \u00a0When it is fully commissioned in the first quarter of 2026, it will have a total capacity of 913 MW, making it just slightly smaller than EnBW\u2019s He Dreith (currently Germany\u2019s largest) and among a crop of new large offshore wind farms that are planned to reinvigorate the EU\u2019s drive to renewable energy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe generation of the first power at Borkum Riffgrund 3 is both a significant landmark for German offshore wind and our commitment to accelerating the EU energy transition,\u201d said Jordi Francesch, Managing Director, Renewable Energy Investments at Nuveen Infrastructure.<\/p>\n
The companies note that the project illustrates the depth of the EU supply chain for renewable energy. The wind turbines and foundations came from Germany and Denmark, cables from Germany and France, and installation vessels from the Netherlands and Belgium. Operation and maintenance for all \u00d8rsted\u2019s German offshore wind farms is carried out from Norden-Norddeich and Emden in East Frisia.<\/p>\n
The project will consist of a total of 83 wind turbines, each with a rated capacity of 11 MW. The companies note that when it is fully operational, it will produce the same amount of electricity that a large city uses every year.<\/p>\n
Borkum Riffgrund 3 is supported by several long-term corporate power purchase agreements (CPPA), which they highlight create long-term price security for the project developer and for the customers. Offtake agreements ranging between 10 to 25 years and totalling 786 MW have been entered into with Amazon (350 MW), BASF (186 MW), Covestro (100 MW), Energie-Handels-Gesellschaft\/REWE Group (100 MW), and Google (50 MW).\u00a0<\/p>\n
The project is also the first offshore wind farm to be built by \u00d8rsted in Germany without an offshore substation (OSS). The new connection concept provides a direct connection between the wind turbines via a 66 kV connection to the DolWin epsilon offshore converter platform, installed and operated by the German transmission system operator, TenneT.<\/p>\n
As it completes commissioning, Borkum Riffgrund 3 joins a growing portfolio of German offshore projects. Earlier this year, \u00d8rsted and Nuveen Infrastructure\u2019s other jointly owned offshore wind farm, Gode Wind 3, was fully commissioned. The project is located close to \u00d8rsted\u2019s existing wind farms: Borkum Riffgrund 1 and 2 and Gode Wind 1 and 2. With these recent additions, \u00d8rsted’s installed offshore wind power capacity in Germany increases to around 2.5 GW in early 2026, making the company the market leader in Germany, operating over 20 percent of the country\u2019s total offshore wind capacity.<\/p>\n