Norway-based subsea industry services provider DeepOcean has been contracted to provide subsea installation services for the first phase of the 1.6-GW Nordseecluster offshore wind project portfolio in the North Sea which is owned by German energy major RWE AG (ETR:RWE).
Under the contract, the Norwegian firm will be in charge of the preparatory work, transport and installations of all inter-array cables, including trenching, topside pull-ins and terminations for the initial build-out phase. It will install 185 kilometres (114.9 miles) of 66-kV aluminium and copper cables, starting with connecting all 44 offshore wind turbines of Nordseecluster A.
The Nordseecluster project envisages the construction of four wind farms, housing a minimum of 104 wind turbines, in the eastern part of the German North Sea. Two sites with a combined capacity of 660 MW will be built as part of the first phase of the project — Nordseecluster A, which is currently in the permit application stage.
The contract signed by DeepOcean is subject to a final investment decision (FID) by RWE, the Norwegian company said on Monday. The offshore installation work for Nordseecluster A is likely to start in 2026.
RWE earlier this year inked a deal to become the sole owner of the Nordseecluster project by acquiring the minority share of its partner, Canadian power producer Northland Power Inc (TSE:NPI).
All four facilities, which will be equipped with Vestas turbines, are expected to be operational in early 2029. The Nordseecluster project is expected to generate enough electricity to power 1.6 million German homes.
