Partners ready Nordsee 2&3 bids

Partners Innogy and Northland Power are preparing combined bids of 900MW for the Nordsee 2 and 3 projects in next year’s offshore wind tender in Germany, according to Innogy executive Hans Bünting

Bünting told journalists about the proposed bid at a visit to a Senvion factory on Monday.

The layout of Nordsee 2 and 3 would allow for up to 960MW of capacity to be installed, Nordsee 1 executive Tim Kittelhake said during the event.

Kittelhake said talks with turbine suppliers for Nordsee 2 and 3 are ongoing. However, the partners will not disclose preferred suppliers before the offshore auction in March.

The turbine talks centre on power curves – output at a certain wind speed – because a new generation of machines will be available before 2023, said Senvion chief executive Jurgen Geißinger.

If Innogy and Northland Power – which holds an 85% stake in the projects – are successful in the auction, Nordsee 2 and 3 would be linked to the 900MW Dolwin 6 hub currently also in a tender process.

Germany’s grid regulator BNetzA is expected to determine in early 2017 the order of grid hubs to be built after 2020, with Dolwin 6 likely to be completed in 2023.

Dolwin 6 would connect the so-called cluster 3 to the mainland, which, as well as Nordsee 2 and 3, also includes Dong Energy’s Gode Wind 3 and 4 and Eon’s Delta Nordsee 1 and 2 as potential candidates for a grid connection.  

Image: offshore substation at Nordsee 1 (RWE)