Vattenfall Installs First Monopile at Nordlicht I, Starting Offshore Construction on Germany's Largest Wind Project
Vattenfall began offshore construction on its 1.6 GW Nordlicht cluster north of Borkum, setting the first of 68 monopiles for the 980 MW Nordlicht I phase, with both wind farms slated to enter operation in 2028.
Overview
Vattenfall has started offshore construction on Nordlicht, a two-phase wind farm cluster in the German North Sea that the Swedish utility describes as the country’s largest offshore wind project. According to Vattenfall, the first monopile for the Nordlicht I phase was installed on July 1st in the German North Sea, around 85 kilometres north of the island of Borkum.
What We Know
Nordlicht I is designed to comprise 68 monopile and transition piece foundations, according to Vattenfall. Each foundation is up to 80.5 metres long and weighs up to 1,290 tonnes, a figure corroborated by Offshore Wind and Renewable Energy Industry.
Nordlicht I has a capacity of approximately 980 megawatts, while the second phase, Nordlicht II, is set at approximately 630 megawatts, bringing the combined cluster to around 1.6 gigawatts, according to Vattenfall and Offshore Wind. Together, the two wind farms are expected to generate around 6 terawatt hours of electricity per year, Vattenfall said.
Across both phases, Vattenfall is deploying a total of 112 Vestas V236-15.0 MW wind turbines, according to Offshore Wind and Renewable Energy Industry.
DEME is transporting and installing the foundations, Vattenfall said. The monopiles are manufactured by EEW Special Pipe Constructions at its Rostock facility, while the transition pieces come from CSWind in Aalborg, according to Vattenfall and Windtech International.
Both wind farms are scheduled to become operational in 2028, with foundation installation at Nordlicht II beginning around a year after Nordlicht I, according to Vattenfall and Offshore Wind.
Vattenfall also said the turbine towers will be partially made with low-emission steel, which it says reduces their overall carbon footprint by around 16 percent, a detail corroborated by Energy Global.
Cyril Moss, Project Director Nordlicht at Vattenfall, said in a statement: “With the installation of the first monopile, Nordlicht is visibly taking shape in the waters of the North Sea. It’s an important step forward for Vattenfall and at the same time a meaningful contribution to the energy transition, strengthening energy security and competitiveness in Europe. Projects of this scale require precise planning, strong partnership across the supply chain, and a clear focus on safety and execution. Seeing the project take shape offshore is a proud moment for the entire team,” according to Vattenfall.
What We Don’t Know
Vattenfall has not disclosed the total investment cost of the Nordlicht cluster, nor a detailed month-by-month construction schedule beyond the 2028 operational target for both phases. The exact vessel deployed for the July 1 installation was not named in the available reporting.
Analysis
Nordlicht adds a large fixed-bottom project to Germany’s offshore wind pipeline at a moment when the country is leaning on renewables to cover a growing share of its power demand — The Machine Herald previously reported that renewables supplied 61.8 percent of Germany’s net public power generation in the first half of 2026. At roughly 1.6 gigawatts combined, the two-phase Nordlicht cluster would be a meaningful addition to that mix once both farms reach commercial operation in 2028.