RWE has completed the installation of two offshore substations at the 660MW Nordseecluster A offshore wind farm site around 50km north of Juist island in the German North Sea.
Crews placed the substations, one weighing approximately 1,800t and the other around 2,500t, onto their foundations using the Gulliver floating heavy-lift crane operated by SCALDIS. Both structures are roughly 40m in length and 22m in height.
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The substations originated from Saint-Nazaire, France, where manufacturer Chantiers de l’Atlantique produced them, before being transported by sea, a process that lasted about a week.
RWE offshore wind chief technology officer Tobias Keitel said: “At the ‘double wedding’, the two heaviest components were installed – a visible sign that we are making excellent progress with the work at sea.”
Each substation will handle electrical output from Nordseecluster A’s wind turbines, increasing the power to the necessary transmission voltage before sending it to the grid operator’s converter station and on to the mainland.
The need for two substations arises from Nordseecluster A’s use of two separate grid connections.
Foundation installation was completed at the end of last year, cable-laying is under way and the assembly of 44 wind turbines is scheduled to start in the summer of 2026.
The project is set for full commissioning in early 2027, at which point Nordseecluster A will provide a capacity of 660MW.
Nordseecluster B, the following development phase, aims to add a further 900MW with 60 additional turbines, beginning in 2029.
The manufacture of several components for the next phase has begun and the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency issued necessary planning permissions for Nordseecluster B at the end of March.
When both phases are operational, the Nordseecluster’s total output is projected to supply the equivalent electricity needs of around 1.6 million German households.
Nordseecluster is a joint offshore wind initiative, with RWE holding a 51% share and Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) holding 49%.
RWE oversees the construction and operational management of the offshore wind farms.
The company is currently developing other major offshore projects including the Sofia wind farm in the UK, the Thor wind farm in Denmark in partnership with NBIM and the OranjeWind project in the Netherlands with TotalEnergies.
