Location: North Sea, approximately 100 km northwest of Borkum Island, Germany.
Water Depth: The wind farm is situated in waters with depths ranging from 40 to 44 meters.
Ownership and Operation
Current Owner: Ocean Breeze Energy, which is owned by funds managed by Macquarie Asset Management (MAM).
Operator: Ocean Breeze Energy GmbH.
Capacity and Turbines
Total Capacity: 400 MW.
Number of Turbines: 80 BARD 5.0 wind turbines, each with a rated capacity of 5 MW.
Turbine Specifications:
Rotor diameter: 122 meters
Hub height: 90 meters above water level
Total height of the structure: 152 meters
Three-bladed rotor with electronic pitch system and a three-level gearbox and six-pin double-fed asynchronous generator.
Foundation and Installation
Foundation Type: Tripile foundations, consisting of three pylons connected by a transition piece. Each pylon weighs 72 tons, and the foundation structure weighs 239 tons in total.
Installation: The turbines were installed using jack-up barges such as Windlift, JB 115, JB 117, and Thor. The crews were transported and provided offshore access by the Amplemann system on the VOS Sympathy vessel.
Grid Connection
Grid Connection: The power generated is transmitted to the Borwin I (Alpha) Offshore platform, where it is converted into high-voltage direct current (HVDC) before being transmitted to the German power grid through a 200 km cable line. The power is then fed into the 380 kV German national grid.
Environmental Impact
Energy Production: The wind farm produces approximately 1.6 billion kWh of electricity per year, enough to power around 430,000 to 463,000 households.
CO2 Reduction: It is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by about 452,061 tons annually.
Construction and Timeline
Construction Start: March 2010.
First Power Input: December 2010.
Commissioning: Officially inaugurated on August 26, 2013, although it faced several delays and was fully operational later.
Challenges: The project faced significant delays, cost overruns (initially estimated at over €1 billion but eventually costing around €3 billion), and technical issues, including overvoltage and harmonics problems. There were also fatalities during construction.
Financial and Funding
Investment: The project involved a total investment of more than €1 billion.
Funding: Supported by a €53.1 million grant from the European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR) initiative by the European Commission.
Contractors and Suppliers
Turbine Supplier: BARD Engineering developed and supplied the turbines.
Foundation Structures: Cuxhaven Steel Construction produced the foundation structures.
Rotor Blades: SGL Rotec supplied the rotor blades.
Offshore Access: Ampelmann provided the platforms for offshore access.
Cable Installation: ABB installed the sea and land cables, and NSW delivered the submarine and offshore cables.
Transmission Link: TenneT and ABB were involved in building the transmission link to the German grid.
Maintenance and Operation
O&M Contractor: Offshore Wind Solutions (OWS) has been responsible for the operation and maintenance since 2014.
Logistical Support: Acta Auriga, an Ulstein-designed service operation vessel, was contracted for logistical support starting in January 2018.
Power Purchase Agreement
Power Purchase: RWE Supply and Trading signed a long-term green purchase agreement to market the electricity from BARD Offshore 1 until 2030. The wind farm's electricity will also be used in RWE-developed electrolyser projects to produce green hydrogen starting in 2026.