Largest Offshore Wind Farm in the German Baltic Sea: Gennaker Reaches Key Milestone
Hamburg – The two substation platforms Darß and Zingst have been successfully installed at the Gennaker offshore wind farm in the German Baltic Sea. The wind farm, with a planned capacity of just under 1,000 MW, is scheduled to start operations at the end of 2028.
Darß and Zingst Substation Platforms Installed – Grid Connection via 50Hertz
The two new offshore substation platforms Darß and Zingst are part of the OST-6-1 grid connection system being built by transmission system operator 50Hertz. They will collect the electricity from the wind turbines and transform the voltage from 66 kV to 220 kV before the power is transmitted to the mainland.
The grid connection is designed for a transmission capacity of 927 MW. This puts the grid connection capacity 49.5 MW below the planned installed wind farm capacity of 976.5 MW.
The offshore heavy-lift and installation vessel Pioneering Spirit of offshore services provider Allseas was used to install the platforms. The vessel, more than 380 metres long, is one of the largest offshore installation vessels in the world. According to 50Hertz, the substructures were first anchored to the seabed, followed by the installation of the platform topsides.
With the installation of the platforms, a key step in building the offshore grid infrastructure has been completed. The remaining work includes the subsea cable connections and the onshore link to the Gnewitz substation in the district of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
Gennaker: 63 Wind Turbines with 976.5 MW Planned
The Gennaker offshore wind farm is being built around 15 kilometres north of the Fischland-Darß-Zingst peninsula off the coast of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The project, developed by Skyborn Renewables, is being realised together with Stadtwerke München (SWM), which holds a 25 percent stake.
The plans provide for 63 Siemens Gamesa wind turbines, each with a capacity of up to 15.5 MW. According to Skyborn, the wind farm is expected to generate around 3.8 TWh of electricity per year. This is equivalent, in arithmetic terms, to the annual electricity demand of around one million households.
The foundations and wind turbines are scheduled to be installed in 2027 and 2028. Full commercial commissioning is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2028. In September 2026, debt financing of around EUR 2.1 billion was closed for the project. Total investment amounts to more than EUR 3 billion.
Offshore Expansion: Baltic Sea Set for Significant Capacity Increase
According to IWR’s analysis of the Market Master Data Register of the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA), a total of 1,813 offshore wind turbines with a capacity of 11,568.7 MW were installed in Germany at the end of September 2026. From January to September 2026, 135 turbines with a combined 1,835.3 MW were commissioned. The analysis is based on data as of October 18, 2026.
Offshore sites are concentrated in the North Sea. According to the analysis, around 9,426 MW was installed there at the end of September 2026, compared with 2,143 MW in the Baltic Sea. The figure for the Baltic Sea already includes Iberdrola’s 315 MW Windanker offshore wind farm. The last three wind turbines at that site, with a total capacity of 45 MW, were commissioned in September. Once completed, Gennaker, at 976.5 MW, is set to be the most powerful offshore wind farm in the German Baltic Sea.
Unlike many offshore projects in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), Gennaker is being built in the territorial waters of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The project therefore lies outside the offshore area planning of the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) for the EEZ.
While the framework for future offshore auctions in the EEZ is being revised, construction of the already well-advanced Gennaker project is moving ahead. With a planned capacity of 976.5 MW, Gennaker could increase the offshore wind capacity installed in the German Baltic Sea at the end of September 2026 by around 46 percent in arithmetic terms.
Source: IWR Online, 26 Oct 2026
