A ceremony held on 10 February at the Chantier de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, marked the successful completion of the design, construction and integration phases of two offshore electrical substations that will become the operational heart of the 660MW Phase A of the Nordseecluster offshore wind project,

The project is a collaboration between RWE (51%) and Norges Bank Investment Management (49%), and is currently under construction off the German coast.

Each topside is approximately 40m long and 22m high. The first weighs around 1,800t and the second approximately 2,500t. Both large-scale structures will depart from Saint-Nazaire by the end of the month. The units will be transported by barge to their installation site in the North Sea, around 50km north of the German island of Juist, on a voyage lasting around eight days. The foundations for the two substations have already been installed.

In addition to their usual functions the two substations are also equipped to gather operational data from the wind farms and enable remote monitoring and control from land. Nordseecluster A is set to be commissioned in 2027, with the 900MW Nordseecluster B scheduled to follow from 2029.

The offshore works on Nordseecluster A are said to be proceeding well with foundation installation completed at the end of last year, cable-laying currently under way and installation of the 44 wind turbines to begin in summer 2026.

The second expansion stage, Nordseecluster B, for which fabrication of foundations has already begun, will consist of 60 wind turbine generators, which will commence commercial operation in 2029. RWE will be responsible for the construction and operation of the Nordseecluster offshore wind farms throughout their entire life cycle.