Vattenfall and BASF have signed contracts with four suppliers for key components and installation services for Nordlicht 1 and 2 offshore wind farms, hiring EEW Special Pipe Constructions (SPC), CS WIND Offshore, DEME, and Jan De Nul to deliver the projects.
Across all suppliers, a total of 112 key components, including monopiles and transition pieces, will be manufactured and installed to support the 1.6 GW Nordlicht wind farms.
EEW SPC will manufacture the monopile foundations, processing approximately around 141,000 tons of steel at its Rostock site, their fifth offshore wind project for Vattenfall. The monopiles, each with a diameter of 10 meters, will provide the structural base for the Nordlicht turbines.
CS WIND Offshore will supply the transition pieces to connect the turbines to the monopiles. The company’s proven track record in offshore wind includes its recent collaboration with Vattenfall on the Vesterhav projects in Denmark.
As reported earlier, DEME will manage the installation of the monopiles and transition pieces, using its installation vessels to ensure precise and efficient foundation placement.
Jan De Nul has been contracted to install 196 kilometers of inter-array cables, connecting the turbines and ensuring optimal energy transmission within the wind farms. The company will deploy its advanced cable installation vessel, the Connector, for the task.
Pending final investment decisions in 2025, construction for Nordlicht 1 and 2 is set to begin in 2026, with full commissioning anticipated by 2028.
In 2024, Vattenfall and BASF awarded contracts to Vestas for the supply of state-of-the-art wind turbines, Havfram for low-carbon transport and installation services, and TKF for the supply of inter-array cables.
The Nordlicht wind farm area is located 85 kilometres north of the island of Borkum in the German North Sea and consists of two separate locations - Nordlicht 1 with a capacity of around 980 megawatts and Nordlicht 2 with around 630 megawatts. Once fully operational, electricity production is expected to total around 6 terawatt hours (TWh) per year.