Ørsted and Nuveen Infrastructure have formally inaugurated the 913 MW Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm in the German North Sea, adding a project capable of supplying electricity equivalent to the annual consumption of almost one million German households.
The wind farm, located about 72 km off Germany’s coast, is jointly owned by Ørsted and Nuveen on a 50/50 basis. Its inauguration marks the completion of one of Germany’s largest offshore wind projects and brings Ørsted’s operational offshore capacity in the country to around 2.5 GW.
German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Katherina Reiche described the project as “one wind farm with the output of a conventional power plant”, adding: “Clean energy at true industrial scale.”
For Ørsted, the project also represents a significant expansion of its German generation portfolio. Chief executive Rasmus Errboe said Borkum Riffgrund 3 demonstrates what offshore wind can provide in Germany: “large-scale, home-grown renewable electricity for industry and households, built by a European supply chain.”
The project connects directly to TenneT’s DolWin epsilon converter platform, a first for an offshore wind farm in Germany. Ørsted said the connection highlights the need for closer coordination between wind-farm development and offshore grid infrastructure.
Borkum Riffgrund 3 was built using equipment and services from across Europe. Turbines and foundations came from Germany and Denmark, while cables were supplied from Germany and France. Installation vessels were provided by companies in the Netherlands and Belgium. Around 100 German companies were involved in development and construction.
The project also has long-term corporate power offtakers, including Amazon, Google, EHA/REWE Group, Covestro and BASF.
Nuveen Infrastructure’s global head of clean energy, Jordi Francesch, said the project showed the investment scale needed for Germany’s energy transition, while stressing that “continued regulatory clarity and stable, indexed frameworks” would be important for future offshore wind investment.
