Vattenfall and BASF gather tier 1 contractors for German offshore wind project

Vattenfall and BASF have signed contracts with EEW Special Pipe Constructions (EEW SPC) and CS Wind Offshore for component supply and with DEME and Jan De Nul for installation services for the Nordlicht 1 and Nordlicht 2 offshore wind farms in Germany.

Germany’s EEW SPC will manufacture 112 monopile foundations, processing around 141,000 tones of steel at the Rostock site. The monopiles, each with a diameter of ten meters, will hold Vestas’ V236-15.0 MW wind turbines.

Production of the monopiles is planned from the end of 2025 to mid-2027.

“We are delighted that we are now managing our fifth offshore wind project for Vattenfall as part of our well established partnership. This project also contributes to the further expansion of renewable energies in the German North Sea,” said Sebastian Mönnich, Head of Project Management at EEW SPC.

CS Wind Offshore will supply the transition pieces to connect the turbines to the monopiles. Manufacturing of the 68 transition pieces for Nordlicht 1 and the 44 transition pieces for Nordlicht 2 will commence at CS Wind Offshore’s production site at Aalborg Port, Denmark, starting in 2025.

This is not the first time that the company has been working with Vattenfall. They also collaborated on the Vesterhav offshore wind farms in Denmark.

“I applaud our team’s dedication in securing these agreements, which underscores our ability to meet our clients’ needs for transition pieces designed for +15MW wind turbines at our Aalborg facility. We remain committed to supporting job retention in Aalborg, where we benefit from a robust wind industry with strong local partnerships,” said Hee-Joung Moon, CEO of CS Wind Offshore.

DEME has been awarded two contracts, valued at over €300 million, for transporting and installing 112 foundations at the Nordlicht 1 and Nordlicht 2 offshore wind farms. The company also secured a contract for scour protection at both wind farms.

Several vessels will be deployed, including DEME’s offshore installation ship Orion, a jack-up vessel, and a fallpipe vessel for scour protection.

Belgian Jan De Nul has been tasked with installing 196 kilometers of inter-array cables that will connect Vestas’ 15 MW turbines. According to Vattenfall, the company will use its cable-laying vessel (CLV) Connector for this task.

“Nordlicht is the sixth cable project for offshore renewable energy we have lined up in Germany. Adding to the installation of 107 foundations on Borkum Riffgrund 3 and Gode Wind 3 in 2024, Jan De Nul strengthens its position as a key player in the development of offshore green energy in Germany,” said Wouter Vermeersch, Director of Subsea Cables at Jan De Nul.

Previously, Vattenfall and BASF already awarded contracts to Havfram for transport and installation services and to TKF for the supply of cables.

The 980 MW Nordlicht 1 and the 630 MW Nordlicht 2 offshore wind farms are located around 85 kilometers north of the island of Borkum in the German North Sea. 

Subject to final investment decisions in 2025, construction is set to begin in 2026, with full commissioning expected by 2028.

Once completed, the offshore wind farms’ combined production is expected to be around 6 TWh per year, equal to the electricity consumption of 1.7 million German households.