Vattenfall to build giant wind farm in the North Sea alone

"Vattenfall has made the final investment decision for the Nordlicht 1 and 2 offshore wind farms in the North Sea," located 85 km north of the island of Borkum, according to a company statement.

To this end, Vattenfall will acquire the 49% stake in the Nordlicht cluster acquired by the German chemical company BASF in 2024.

Construction of the first wind turbines will begin in 2026, subject to approval for the Nordlicht 2 wind farm, with commissioning planned for 2028.

Nordlicht 1 alone will become "Germany's largest offshore wind project," with a capacity of more than 980 MW, according to Vattenfall, according to the group. Nordlicht 2 will have a capacity of 630 MW.

Once fully operational, the wind farms, with 112 turbines emerging from the sea, are expected to produce around 6 TWh of electricity per year, while a nuclear power plant produces an average of between 8 and 12 TWh per year, a capacity that Germany has not used since last year.

The project will "accelerate the energy transition in Germany" and "support industrial decarbonization," said Helene Biström, head of wind energy at Vattenfall.

For BASF, which is waiving its co-financing of the construction of the gigantic North Sea project, this transaction will, however, result in "a non-monetary disposal loss of 300 million euros," which will be recorded in the results for the first quarter of 2025, according to a separate press release.

The Ludwigshafen-based group will remain a partner of Vattenfall, which will eventually supply it with green electricity from the North Sea for its chemical plants.

By 2024, BASF's share of electricity from renewable energy has increased to 26%, up from 20% in 2023. It aims to cover more than 60% of its electricity needs from renewable sources by 2030.