Borkum Riffgrund 2

Borkum Riffgrund 2 Offshore Wind Farm Profile

Location

• The Borkum Riffgrund 2 offshore wind farm is located in the North Sea, approximately 54 kilometers off the coast of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated next to the existing Borkum Riffgrund 1 wind farm.

Ownership and Development

• The wind farm is jointly owned by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and Ørsted (formerly DONG Energy), each holding a 50% stake. Ørsted is the developer of the project.

Capacity and Turbines

• The wind farm consists of 56 MHI Vestas V164-8.0 MW wind turbines, each with a capacity of 8 MW. These turbines feature rotor spans of 164 meters, with blades that are 80 meters long, weighing 35 tons, and having a total swept area of 21,124 square meters. The nacelle of each turbine weighs 390 tons and measures 20 meters long, 8 meters wide, and 8 meters high. The hub height is 105 meters, and the tip height is 187 meters.

Foundations

• The turbines are installed on suction bucket jackets provided by the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) and fabricated by ST³ Offshore.

Substation

• The wind farm includes a high-voltage AC transformer substation with a total capacity of 450 MW. The substation platform measures 25 meters x 40 meters x 20 meters and weighs 2,500 tons. It is supported by a four-legged lattice jacket foundation measuring 30 meters x 30 meters x 55 meters and weighing 1,700 tons. The foundation consists of 18 piles, each 63 meters high and weighing 1,050 tons. The substation is equipped with a dehumidification system, ventilation system, heating and cooling system, and HVAC control systems, and is designed to last for 25 years using high-quality materials such as stainless steel and titanium.

Power Transmission

• The electricity generated by the wind farm is collected and exported through a substation to the DolWin alpha HVDC converter platform via 30 km cables. From there, the power is transmitted onshore through an 83 km subsea cable to the converter station located in Dörpen / West in Lower Saxony, where it is connected to the national power grid.

Commissioning and Operation

• The final investment decision for the project was made in June 2016. The wind farm was commissioned in the first half of 2019, specifically entering commercial operation in December 2018.

Contractors Involved

• Key contractors include:
  • MHI Vestas Offshore Wind for turbine supply.
  • Fred Olsen Windcarrier for turbine transportation and installation.
  • Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) for suction bucket foundations.
  • ST³ Offshore for foundation fabrication.
  • ISC Innovative Engineering for detailed substation design.
  • HSM Offshore for engineering, procurement, and construction of the platform.
  • Heinen and Hopman for platform fabrication and installation.
  • Siemens Convergence Creators for SCADA Network and telecommunication system supply and maintenance.
  • Other contractors include Iv-Oil and Gas, Iv-Consults, Observator Group, Bladt Industries, Hellenic Cables Group, Seaproof Solutions, ABS Group, MacArtney, Heerema Marine Contractors, Peutz, InterDam, GeoSeam, and RSB Formwork Technology.

Financing

• The project received €832 million ($1.04 billion) in debt financing from a group of institutional investors, including DekaBank, Edmond de Rothschild AM’s BRIDGE platform, La Banque Postale Asset Management, NN Investment Partners, and Wiener Städtische Versicherung.

Environmental Impact and Energy Production

• The wind farm has a total capacity of 450 MW and is expected to produce enough electricity to power approximately 460,000 German households annually, contributing significantly to Germany's energy transition and reduction of CO2 emissions.

Operational Base

• The wind farm is operated from Ørsted’s base in Norddeich.