Windader West

With the Offshore Wind Energy Act, the German government defined at the beginning of 2023 the further framework conditions for the expansion of offshore wind farms: capacity is to increase to 40 gigawatts by 2035 and 70 gigawatts by 2045. This means the Federal government wants offshore wind farms to supply as much electricity as over 50 large coal-fired power stations – and to do so by 2035. This includes several wind farms in the North Sea, which are scheduled to go into operation between 2032 and 2036. With Windader West, we are delivering offshore wind power directly to the centres of consumption in North Rhine-Westphalia.

GRID CONNECTIONS IN THE RHINE-RUHR METROPOLITAN REGION

The four grid connection systems NOR-6-4, NOR-9-5, NOR-x-1 and NOR-x-5 that will feed North Sea wind power into our transmission grid are collectively known as Windader West. To realise these four systems, we will lay cables out on the high seas, in the Lower Saxony area of the Wadden Sea and on the mainland between the North Sea coast and the respective grid interconnection points. These cables will for the most part be run parallel to one another. The grid interconnection point of NOR-6-4 is located in Wesel on the Lower Rhine, while that of NOR-9-5 is located between Dorsten, Marl and Haltern in the northern Ruhr area. NOR-x-1 and NOR-x-5 are to be connected in Rommerskirchen and Oberzier in the Rhineland.

OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY FOR EIGHT MILLION PEOPLE

The four offshore grid integration systems planned will be installed parallel to one another on land and for the most part at sea, too. For the land section, the projects are planned to be installed as underground cables suing direct current technology. They will each be able to transmit a capacity of 2,000 megawatts, enabling offshore wind energy to meet the needs of around eight million people. The grid connection systems will go into operation between 2032 and 2036.