United Kingdom: RWE Takes Over Offshore Wind Projects From Vattenfall And Accelerates Expansion Program

Essen, Germany - The British government wants to expand offshore wind power capacity to 50 GW (50,000 MW) by 2030. The energy group RWE is participating in the expansion program and is now taking over the Norfolk Vanguard West, Norfolk Vanguard East and Norfolk Boreas offshore wind projects, each with 1.4 GW (1,400 MW), from Vattenfall.

RWE expands offshore development portfolio in the UK by 4.2 GW

At the end of December 2023, RWE had already announced that it would take over three offshore wind projects in the UK from Vattenfall. The Norfolk Vanguard West, Norfolk Vanguard East and Norfolk Boreas projects, each with a planned capacity of 1.4 GW (1,400 MW), are located 50 to 80 kilometers off the east coast of England. According to RWE, the three development projects already have seabed rights, grid connections, development consent orders and all other key permits. RWE will also take over the majority of Vattenfall's Norfolk team.

Of the new offshore projects, Norfolk Vanguard West and Norfolk Vanguard East are the most advanced and have already secured the procurement of most of the main components. The next milestone in the development of these two projects is to secure a Contract for Difference (CfD) in one of the upcoming auction rounds, RWE said.

RWE will resume the previously halted development of the Norfolk Boreas project and the next step will be to secure Preferred Supplier Agreements for all main components in order to be able to participate in a CfD auction with Norfolk Boreas at a later date.

UK plays key role in RWE's strategy to expand offshore wind portfolio

RWE already operates 10 offshore wind farms in the UK. Including the three Norfolk projects, the company is now developing nine offshore wind projects in the UK with a total installed capacity of around 9.8 GW (RWE share: 7 GW). In addition, RWE is building the Sofia offshore wind project in the North Sea off the east coast of the UK with a capacity of 1.4 GW.

Source: IWR Online, 03 Apr 2024