BARD Offshore 1

General Information

• Name: BARD Offshore 1 (BO1)
• 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.