RWE has secured two offshore wind sites in the North Sea with a combined capacity of 4GW in the latest auction conducted by the German Federal Network Agency.
The sites, N-9.1 and N-9.2, are between 110km and 115km northwest of Borkum island, close to the Dutch Exclusive Economic Zone.
RWE's winning bid for the sites totalled €250m ($273m).
The sites can support offshore wind farms with a capacity of 2GW each.
RWE has indicated its interest in collaborating with TotalEnergies to develop these projects. Final investment decisions for the sites are anticipated by 2027 for N-9.1 and 2028 for N-9.2.
Offshore construction of N-9.1 and N-9.2 is expected to commence in 2029 and 2030, leading to full commissioning by 2031 and 2032 respectively.
The auction in August 2024 offered three areas, N-9.1, N-9.2 and N-9.3, with a combined capacity of 5.5GW.
The Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) conducted preliminary studies on the auctioned areas, gathering crucial data on marine life, subsoil conditions, and wind and oceanographic patterns, to serve as the foundation for RWE's further planning.
The projects are guaranteed grid connection, in 2030 for N-9.1 and 2031 for N-9.2.
The licenses have a 25-year duration with the possibility of a further 10-year extensions.
RWE currently operates 19 wind farms, including six offshore Germany.
It is constructing four other large offshore wind farms: the Sofia offshore wind farm in the UK, the Thor offshore project in Denmark, the OranjeWind offshore wind farm in the Netherlands in partnership with TotalEnergies, and the Nordseecluster in Germany.
RWE's strategic goal is to triple its global offshore wind capacity from the current 3.3GW to 10GW by 2030.
RWE offshore wind CEO Sven Utermöhlen stated: “Offshore wind is one of the main pillars of Germany's energy transition and RWE's Growing Green strategy.
“With today's success, we are adding two more large-scale wind farms to our already strong German offshore wind portfolio, and we look forward to realising the new projects - possibly with TotalEnergies. Our teams are already in the starting blocks.”
In July 2024, TotalEnergies agreed with RWE to buy a 50% stake in the OranjeWind offshore wind farm in the Netherlands.
