Deutsche Bucht

Deutsche Bucht Offshore Wind Farm Profile

Location

The Deutsche Bucht offshore wind farm is situated within Germany's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the North Sea. It is located 100 km away from mainland Germany and 95 km north-west of Borkum Island. The wind farm covers an area of 22.6 km² and has an average water depth of approximately 40 meters.

Developer and Owner

The wind farm was developed and is 100% owned by Northland Power, an independent power producer based in Canada. This is Northland Power's third offshore wind project in the North Sea.

Capacity and Energy Production

The Deutsche Bucht wind farm has a total generating capacity of 252 MW (though some sources slightly vary this to 260.4 MW).

• It produces approximately one billion kilowatt-hours of energy per year, which is sufficient to power around 300,000 homes.
• The wind farm reduces annual CO₂ emissions by approximately 700,000 tons.

Turbines and Foundations

The wind farm is equipped with 31 MHI Vestas 8.4 MW turbines, each with a rated output of 8.4 MW. These turbines feature:

• Three 80m-long rotor blades.
• Hub heights of 100 meters above the water level.
• Monopiles with a diameter of 8 meters at the bottom and 6.5 meters at the top, weighing 1,100 tons each. The monopiles are 78 meters high, and each turbine's transition piece measures 26 meters long.

Initially, two turbines were planned to be installed on mono-bucket foundation structures, but this plan was cancelled in March 2020 due to technical issues.

Substation and Transmission

The wind farm includes a substation with a four-legged jacket foundation. The topside of the substation houses the electrical equipment.

• The power generated is stepped up from 33 kV to 155 kV and transmitted to the BorWin beta offshore converter station using medium-voltage cables.
• Cables measuring 41 km long connect the turbines to the substation, capable of carrying fibre-optic conductors and withstanding corrosion and wear.
• The offshore converter station is connected to an onshore converter station at Diele through direct-current (DC) cables, where the electricity is converted back before being fed into the German power grid.

Construction and Operational Timeline

• The installation of steel foundations began in September 2018.
• The installation of the 31 wind turbines on monopiles was completed in January 2019.
• The turbines started generating power in September 2019.
• The project was fully completed and entered its operational phase in March 2020.

Investment

The project was developed with an investment of €1.5 billion (approximately $1.65 billion).

Contractors Involved

• MHI Vestas: Supplied the turbines and is responsible for providing operation and maintenance services for a period of 15 years.
• ESVAGT: Provided a service operation vessel (SOV), the Esvagt Albert Betz, to support MHI Vestas for 15 years.
• Van Oord: Responsible for the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation of the balance of plant, including transformer substation production and inter-array cables.
• Jack-Up Barge: Provided the JB-115 self-elevating jack-up platform for the project.
• EEW Special Pipe Constructions (SPC): Produced the monopiles.
• Idesa and Windar Renovables: Provided transition pieces for the turbine poles through a joint venture.
• K2 Management: Delivered project management services during the construction phase.
• Universal Foundation: Designed the mono buckets (though these were not ultimately used).
• Semco Maritime: Received a five-year service contract for the offshore substation.

Environmental Impact

The Deutsche Bucht wind farm contributes significantly to reducing carbon emissions, saving approximately 700,000 tons of CO₂ emissions annually.