One of Germany’s largest offshore wind farms inaugurated

Ørsted and infrastructure investor Nuveen have formally inaugurated the 913MW Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm in the German North Sea, marking the completion of one of Germany’s largest offshore wind projects.

Around 72km off the German coast, the wind farm is jointly owned 50:50 by Ørsted and Nuveen Infrastructure. Its 913MW capacity is sufficient to generate electricity equivalent to the annual consumption of almost one million German households, according to the companies.

The inauguration in Hamburg comes after the project entered commercial operation in August, following the installation and commissioning of its 83 turbines. First power was delivered to the German grid in December 2025.

Ørsted CEO Rasmus Errboe said the project demonstrated the potential of offshore wind to supply German industry and households at scale.

“Borkum Riffgrund 3 shows what offshore wind can deliver for Germany: large-scale, home-grown renewable electricity for industry and households, built by a European supply chain,” he said.

“With well-designed, risk-balanced frameworks, the German North and Baltic seas can become power plants that help drive decarbonisation and energy independence.”

German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Katherina Reiche said the project was a major addition to Germany’s offshore generation capacity.

“With 913MW, this single project adds nearly a tenth to our national offshore capacity, which has already surpassed 10GW this year,” she said. “One wind farm with the output of a conventional power plant. Clean energy at true industrial scale.”

Nuveen Infrastructure Global Head of Clean Energy Jordi Francesch said the project reflected the investment and supply-chain requirements of Germany’s energy transition.

“Continued regulatory clarity and stable, indexed frameworks will be essential to mobilising the next wave of investment in offshore wind,” he said.

The project uses 83 Siemens Gamesa 11MW turbines and connects directly to TenneT’s DolWin epsilon converter platform, rather than using its own conventional offshore substation. Ørsted describes the configuration as a first for an offshore wind farm in Germany.

Borkum Riffgrund 3 has also been developed around long-term corporate power purchase agreements covering 786MW with Amazon, BASF, Covestro, EHA/REWE Group and Google. The project’s European supply chain includes turbines and foundations from Germany and Denmark, cables from Germany and France, and installation vessels from the Netherlands and Belgium. Around 100 German companies were involved in its development and construction.

The project brings Ørsted’s operational offshore wind capacity in Germany to around 2.5GW, making Borkum Riffgrund 3 the company’s sixth operational German offshore wind farm.