RWE And Total Energies Jointly Realize 4,000 MW of Offshore Wind Farm Capacity Off The German Coast
Essen, Germany - The expansion of offshore wind energy in Germany will continue to gain momentum in the near future. By 2030 alone, the German government plans to expand the capacity to 30,000 MW. One of the key players is the energy group RWE, which will realize two of the planned offshore projects with Total Energies as an additional partner.
RWE and Total Energies: Cooperation on Dutch offshore wind farm Oranje Wind
RWE and Total Energies have agreed to jointly develop two large offshore wind projects off the German coast with a total capacity of 4,000 MW (4 GW). Total Energies will acquire a 50 percent stake in the two projects from RWE. When RWE was awarded the contract for the two areas in the German offshore wind tender in August 2024, both companies had already announced that they would examine the joint development of the projects.
“We are delighted to welcome TotalEnergies onboard as our partner in the delivery of these large-scale offshore wind projects in our home market of Germany. As a trusted partner in our Dutch offshore wind project OranjeWind, TotalEnergies shares our ambition to further drive the growth of offshore wind energy to accelerate the energy transition in Germany and beyond,” said Sven Utermöhlen, CEO RWE Offshore Wind, welcoming Total Energies' involvement in the two offshore projects. “We are pleased to strengthen our ties with RWE, a key player in renewables and our partner in OranjeWind project in the Netherlands. This new partnership contributes to our integrated development in the German electricity market, the largest in Europe”, adds Olivier Jouny, SVP Renewables at Total Energies.
RWE: Group offshore capacity to increase to 10,000 MW by 2030
The areas N-9.1 and N-9.2, where the two wind farms are to be built, are located around 110 to 115 kilometers northwest of the island of Borkum. The sites are large enough to construct offshore wind farms with a total capacity of 2,000 MW each. The investment decisions are to be made by 2027 (N-9.1) and 2028 (N-9.2). Subject to the granting of the necessary permits, construction at sea could begin in 2029 or 2030. Full commissioning is planned for 2031 or 2032.
RWE already operates 19 offshore wind farms, including six off the German coast. In addition, the company is currently constructing the following large offshore wind farms: Sofia in the UK (1.4 GW), Thor in Denmark (1.1 GW) and Oranje Wind together with Total Energies in the Netherlands (795 MW). RWE is also building the North Sea cluster in Germany with a total capacity of 1,600 MW (1.6 GW) north of the island of Juist. RWE has set itself the goal of tripling the Group's global offshore wind capacity from the current 3,300 MW (3.3 GW) to 10,000 MW (10 GW) by 2030.
Bid deadline 01.08.2024: 5,500 MW put out to tender - RWE and Luxcara awarded contracts
In the offshore wind tender for centrally pre-investigated areas, the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) has invited tenders for a total of three areas (N-9.1, N-9.2 and N-9.3) located in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the German North Sea with a capacity of 5,500 MW (5.5 GW) for the bidding deadline of August 1, 2024. Two companies belonging to RWE were awarded the contract for the areas N-9.1 and N-9.2 with a total capacity of 4,000 MW (4 GW). The contract for the third area N-9.3 with 1,500 MW was awarded to Luxcara, an asset manager specializing in renewable energies.
In the run-up to the tender, the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) carried out the relevant preliminary investigations and collected key data, for example on the marine environment, the subsoil and the wind and oceanographic conditions. The projects have a legal entitlement to a grid connection, which is scheduled to take place in 2029 (N-9.3), 2030 (N-9.1) and 2031 (N-9.2). The concessions have a term of 25 years and can be extended to 35 years.
Source: IWR Online, 09 Oct 2024