The Gode Wind 3 offshore wind farm will be developed in the North Sea, offshore Germany, by Danish energy company Ørsted.
The German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) granted planning approval for the project in April 2021. The project will be developed simultaneously with the Borkum Riffgrund 3 wind farm, which is also owned by Ørsted.
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The final investment decisions (FID) for the two projects were made in December 2021. Gode Wind 3 and Borkum Riffgrund 3 are expected to be commissioned in 2024 and 2025, respectively.
Project location and development background
The Gode Wind 3 offshore wind farm will be located in the German North Sea, approximately 32km away from the island of Norderney within cluster 3 and the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The two wind farms will be developed 60km apart from each other and close to Ørsted’s Gode Wind 1 and 2, which are among the biggest wind farms in Europe.
Gode Wind 3 was initially proposed as two projects of 110MW and 132MW, which were awarded to Ørsted in 2017 and 2018, respectively, through the offshore wind auctions of the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA). The two projects were merged in September 2019 and will be built as one joint project.
Gode Wind 3 offshore wind farm make-up
The Gode Wind 3 offshore wind farm will be installed with 23 Siemens SG 11.0-200 DD offshore wind turbines. The turbine design is based on Siemens’ direct drive technology, which reduces the wear and tear of turbine components while enabling easier maintenance. The turbine features a permanent magnet generator, which requires no excitation power and improves efficiency.
Each wind turbine will have a nominal output of 11MW of clean energy and feature the 97m-long B97 IntegralBlade rotor blades, which have a diameter of 200m and swept area of 31,400m² (337,986ft²). The turbines will be mounted on monopile foundations with a length of 100m and weight of approximately 1,200t.
Power transmission
The power generated from the offshore wind farm will be sent to a 242MW offshore substation through dedicated underwater cables. The substation will also function as a remote control and monitoring station for the Gode Wind 3 offshore wind farm.
A three-phase power connection will be installed in cluster 3 to facilitate the transmission of the three-phase electric power produced from Gode Wind 3 to the DolWin kappa offshore converter platform through an AC subsea cable.
The wind farm will be connected to TenneT’s extra-high-voltage grid by the DolWin Kappa high-voltage direct current (HVDC) converter station in the German North Sea as well as the associated DolWin6 320kV onshore grid connection in Emden/East (Lower Saxony), Germany.
Contractors involved
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) was selected as the preferred turbine supplier for the project. The supply contract also includes a service and maintenance agreement for five years.
Jan De Nul Group, a Belgian civil engineering company, was contracted to transport and install monopile foundations as well as an offshore substation topside for the Gode Wind 3 and Borkum Riffgrund 3 wind farms. The company will utilise its next-generation offshore installation vessel, Les Alizés, for the transport and installation, which are expected to commence in 2023.
The contracts for the supply of monopile foundations were awarded to Bladt Industries and Steelwind Nordenham in September 2021. The contracts require the companies to supply 107 monopile foundations for the Gode Wind 3 and Borkum Riffgrund 3 wind farms, including the foundation for the offshore substation of Gode Wind 3. Steelwind Nordenham will provide 66 monopiles while the remaining 41 will be delivered by Bladt Industries.
Prysmian Group was contracted to perform the design, supply, termination and testing of the inter-array submarine cable systems for the two projects. The 66kV cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE)-insulated cables will connect Gode Wind 3 to the offshore substation platform. The cables will be produced in Montereau and Gron, France, as well as in Nordenham, Germany.
The contract for the inter-array cable installation was awarded to Boskalis in November 2021. The contract work includes the transport, installation and burial of 106 inter-array cables for the Gode Wind 3 and Borkum Riffgrund 3 wind farms. The Boka Ocean cable-laying vessel will be used to perform the installation works, which are scheduled for early 2024.
Taylor Hopkinson, a recruitment consultancy firm, will provide contract personnel for the project under a five-year framework agreement, which is valid until 2025.
Seaway 7 was named the preferred contractor for the transport and installation of wind turbine generators. It will deploy the VIND1 jack-up installation vessel for the project.
Atlantique Offshore Energy, the offshore marine energy business unit of Chantiers de l’Atlantique, received the contract for the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning works for the offshore electrical substation. Being built in Saint-Nazaire, France, the installation of the 242MW substation is planned for 2023.
Marine installation and engineering services provider Cadeler was awarded a contract to provide its Wind Osprey wind turbine installation vessel in November 2021.
Ørsted engaged UL, a safety science service provider, for the certification of the turbines and foundations in July 2021.
Zhongtian Technology Submarine Cable (ZTT), a subsea cable manufacturer, was contracted by grid operator TenneT to provide the cable systems for the wind farm connection. Tekmar Energy was selected by ZTT to supply its cable protection systems for the 16km-long submarine cable as part of the Gode Wind 3 high-voltage grid connection project.
