Nordlicht is an offshore wind farm cluster being developed by Swedish energy company Vattenfall in the German North Sea.
The project will comprise two farms- Nordlicht 1, with a capacity of 980MW, and Nordlicht 2, with a capacity of 630MW. The two wind farms will have a combined capacity of approximately 1.6GW.
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Germany’s Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) granted planning approval for Nordlicht 1 in January 2025.
Subsequently, Vattenfall made the final investment decision (FID) on Nordlicht 1 in March 2025. At the same time, the company also issued a conditional FID for Nordlicht 2, pending receipt of the required permit.
BSH issued the planning approval decision for Nordlicht 2 in October 2025.
Offshore construction work for the first wind farm is set to begin in 2026, with work on Nordlicht 2 expected to begin a year later.
The wind farms are expected to enter commercial operations in 2028.
The cluster is estimated to produce about six terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity annually, enough to meet the annual consumption of around 1.7 million households.
Nordlicht wind farms location
The Nordlicht wind farms will be located in two different sites in the North Sea, approximately 85km north of Borkum Island in Germany.
Nordlicht 1 will cover an area of 52.63km², around 96km from the shore, in water depths ranging from 37m to 39m. Nordlicht 2 will encompass an area of nearly 44km².
Nordlicht offshore wind cluster details
Nordlicht Offshore Wind Cluster will feature a total of 112 Vestas V236 wind turbines rated at 15MW each.
Nordlicht 1 will be equipped with 68 turbines, while Nordlicht 2 will feature 44 turbines.
The V236-15.0MW turbines feature 115.5m long blades and have a rotor diameter of 236m, resulting in a swept area of 43,742m². They are designed to achieve a capacity factor of more than 60%.
A total of 56 turbine towers made of recycled steel and produced using renewable energy will be used for the project, reducing the overall carbon footprint of the towers by 16%.
Each turbine will be supported by a monopile foundation with a diameter of 10m.
Around 196km of inter-array cables will be laid to enable the offshore wind turbines to transmit electricity.
The generated electricity will be delivered to the BorWin Delta converter platform, which forms part of the Amprion-operated NOR-6-3 grid connection system.
Power purchase agreements
Chemical producer BASF previously held a 49% interest in the Nordlicht offshore wind portfolio via an acquisition that was completed in 2024.
However, BASF divested this stake to Vattenfall in March 2025 in return for secured access to a long-term renewable electricity supply. The chemical company will supply the renewable energy to its European chemical manufacturing facilities, with a primary focus on the Ludwigshafen site.
In August 2024, Vattenfall concluded a power purchase agreement (PPA) with steel manufacturer Salzgitter Group to supply 75MW of connected load from the Nordlicht 1 offshore wind farm to the company for a period of 15 years.
Vattenfall entered into another 15-year PPA with chemical company LyondellBasell (LYB) in January 2025. LYB will buy around 450 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity annually from Nordlicht 1, after it commences production in 2028.
Contractors involved
In January 2025, Vattenfall and BASF awarded core contracts for the Nordlicht 1 and 2 projects.
EEW Special Pipe Constructions will process around 141,000 tonnes (t) of steel to deliver monopile foundations.
CS WIND Offshore will supply 112 transition pieces to connect the turbines to the monopile foundations.
Dansk Polyglas was contracted by CS WIND Offshore for 68 transition piece covers for the Nordlicht 1 offshore wind farm.
DEME will undertake monopile and transition piece installation, utilising its installation vessels to place foundations.
Jan De Nul will install 196km of inter-array cables using its cable-laying vessel Connector.
In March 2025, Vestas finalised a purchase agreement to supply 68 V236-15.0 MW turbines for the Nordlicht 1 offshore wind development.
The contract includes delivery, installation and commissioning of the turbine units, a five-year combined service and warranty period and a further 25-year operations support.
Vattenfall contracted LD Armateurs to construct, own and operate up to three service operation vessels, with one vessel assigned to serve the Nordlicht 1 and 2 sites.
In April 2025, Vestas selected ArcelorMittal as the supplier of low-carbon XCarb® recycled and renewably produced heavy plate steel for components used in Nordlicht 1.
Other contractors involved are TÜV SÜD to conduct project certification for the implementation phase of the two wind farms, TKF for cable solutions, IQIP to support offshore foundation installation and Havfram for the transport and installation of wind turbines.