Wind Farm to Power Amazon and Google Sends First Power to German Grid

The Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm started feeding its first power to the German grid on December 3. The wind farm marks another milestone both for Germany and the EU, becoming the largest offshore wind farm in Ørsted’s German portfolio and one that has contracted more than four-fifths of its power with long-term corporate power purchase agreements.

Located about 45 miles off the German coast in the North Sea, the project is being developed in a partnership between Ørsted and Nuveen Infrastructure. When it is fully commissioned in the first quarter of 2026, it will have a total capacity of 913 MW, making it just slightly smaller than EnBW’s He Dreith (currently Germany’s largest) and among a crop of new large offshore wind farms that are planned to reinvigorate the EU’s drive to renewable energy.

“The generation of the first power at Borkum Riffgrund 3 is both a significant landmark for German offshore wind and our commitment to accelerating the EU energy transition,” said Jordi Francesch, Managing Director, Renewable Energy Investments at Nuveen Infrastructure.

The companies note that the project illustrates the depth of the EU supply chain for renewable energy. The wind turbines and foundations came from Germany and Denmark, cables from Germany and France, and installation vessels from the Netherlands and Belgium. Operation and maintenance for all Ørsted’s German offshore wind farms is carried out from Norden-Norddeich and Emden in East Frisia.

The project will consist of a total of 83 wind turbines, each with a rated capacity of 11 MW. The companies note that when it is fully operational, it will produce the same amount of electricity that a large city uses every year.

Borkum Riffgrund 3 is supported by several long-term corporate power purchase agreements (CPPA), which they highlight create long-term price security for the project developer and for the customers. Offtake agreements ranging between 10 to 25 years and totalling 786 MW have been entered into with Amazon (350 MW), BASF (186 MW), Covestro (100 MW), Energie-Handels-Gesellschaft/REWE Group (100 MW), and Google (50 MW).

The project is also the first offshore wind farm to be built by Ørsted in Germany without an offshore substation (OSS). The new connection concept provides a direct connection between the wind turbines via a 66 kV connection to the DolWin epsilon offshore converter platform, installed and operated by the German transmission system operator, TenneT.

As it completes commissioning, Borkum Riffgrund 3 joins a growing portfolio of German offshore projects. Earlier this year, Ørsted and Nuveen Infrastructure’s other jointly owned offshore wind farm, Gode Wind 3, was fully commissioned. The project is located close to Ørsted’s existing wind farms: Borkum Riffgrund 1 and 2 and Gode Wind 1 and 2. With these recent additions, Ørsted's installed offshore wind power capacity in Germany increases to around 2.5 GW in early 2026, making the company the market leader in Germany, operating over 20 percent of the country’s total offshore wind capacity.

Germany’s largest offshore wind farm to date, EnBW’s He Dreith, generated and delivered its first kilowatt-hour of electricity on November 25 as it started the commissioning process for its turbines. It is expected to be completed during the summer of 2026, making another major addition to Germany’s renewable energy supply.

Germany's current offshore wind power capacity is just over nine gigawatts. The country has set ambitious targets to reach 30 GW by 2030, 40 GW by 2035, and 70 GW by 2045. It has not been immune to the pressures on the industry, and in August, for the first time, reported it had received no bids in its latest leasing round. The commissioning of the two large wind farms in 2026 will be a boost as the government explores future policies to encourage the next phase of development.