BORKUM/HAMBURG/ESSEN (dpa-AFX) - The energy group RWE can begin construction of two further offshore wind farms in the German North Sea north of the East Frisian island of Borkum. The responsible Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) in Hamburg issued the corresponding planning approval decisions for the NC1 and NC2 wind farms in mid-June, as the authority and the company announced on Tuesday. A planning approval decision is a type of building permit.

RWE considers the NC1 and NC2 wind farms to be part of a group of wind farms that the company calls the North Sea Cluster. This cluster, which is being built around 46 kilometers north of the island of Borkum, will have a total capacity of 1.6 gigawatts (GW). According to the Group, this amount of wind energy is enough to supply 1.6 million households.

Rotor diameter of wind turbines larger than Koln Cathedral

According to RWE, the wind farms now approved by the federal authorities are part of the first expansion stage of the North Sea cluster. From next year, a total of 44 wind turbines with a capacity of 15 megawatts (MW) each are to be erected. According to BSH, the planned turbines will have a rotor diameter of 236 meters. By comparison, the Koln Cathedral is almost 160 meters high. According to RWE, production of the components has already begun. In addition, an unmanned transformer platform is also being built. The wind turbines should be fully connected to the grid by the beginning of 2027.

RWE has recently expanded its offshore wind business. According to the Essen-based company, it operates 19 offshore wind farms - six of them off the German coast. "With the North Sea cluster, we are driving forward the expansion of offshore wind energy. This is a good signal for the energy transition in Germany and for RWE," said the head of RWE Offshore Wind, Sven Utermohlen.

Federal government wants to significantly expand offshore wind power

Offshore wind power is to be significantly expanded in order to achieve climate targets and meet the demand arising from the phase-out of coal and nuclear energy. The German government had increased its offshore targets for 2022 and announced that it was aiming for at least 30 gigawatts of wind energy by 2030 and at least 70 gigawatts by 2045.

The President of the Federal Office, Helge Heegewaldt, said in a statement that there is currently an installed capacity of around 8.6 gigawatts in the North and Baltic Seas. "With the current planning approval decisions, we have another building block for achieving the goals of the Offshore Wind Energy Act for the efficient expansion of offshore wind energy."/len/DP/jha