Ørsted gets planning approval for 900-MW Borkum Riffgrund 3 wind park

Danish renewable energy group Ørsted A/S (CPH:ORSTED) has received planning clearance from the German authorities for the 900-MW Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm complex in the German North Sea.

The approval was granted by Germany’s Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH), Ørsted said on Thursday.

Borkum Riffgrund 3, the company's fourth and largest offshore farm in German waters, will be located 72 km (44.74 mi) off the coast close to the existing Borkum Riffgrund 1 and Borkum Riffgrund 2 wind parks and feature 83 Siemens Gamesa turbines of 11 MW each. Ørsted has already secured power purchase agreements (PPAs) for 450 MW of the total capacity and agreed earlier this week to sell a 50% stake in the complex to London-based fund manager Glennmont Partners.

The project will be implemented together with the 242-MW Gode Wind 3 project also in the North Sea off the German coast for which Ørsted received planning approval in April.

Borkum Riffgrund 3 is scheduled to start operations in 2025, while Gode Wind 3 will be commissioned in 2024. The two farms will supply about 1.2 million households with green electricity.

Ørsted is expected to make a final investment decision for the two projects at the end of this year.

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