Orsted is to merge the 420MW and 240MW Borkum Riffgrund West 1 and 2 wind farms and the 240MW OWP West offshore project into a single development called Borkum Riffgrund 3 and the 110MW and 132MW Gode Wind 3 and 4 projects into one facility named Gode Wind 3.
The Danish company said the “spatial proximity” of the projects will allow it to “build one wind farm each and conduct the necessary investigations of the marine environment for both projects in one process at a time”.
Borkum Riffgrund 3 is located about 53km off the island of Borkum and Gode Wind 3 will be built about 32km off the island of Norderney.
The move is effective immediately with the merger of the respective project companies having been completed and the planning approval procedures will also be merged at the request of the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency.
Turbines will be connected to converter platforms DolWin epsilon and DolWin kappa to be built by transmission system operator TenneT.
Borkum Riffgrund 3 will feed 900MW via DolWin epsilon and Gode Wind 3 will feed 242MW via DolWin kappa.
However, with Borkum Riffgrund 3 Orsted and TenneT plan to implement a new connection concept with a direct link between the turbines and the converter platform.
A final investment decision for the projects is still pending, Orsted said.
If the projects go ahead, grid connection for Gode Wind 3 is expected in 2023 and for Borkum Riffgrund 3 in 2024.