Nordseecluster A turbine installation reaches halfway with 1.6GW endgame in sight

The Nordseecluster A turbine installation has reached its halfway point, with RWE confirming that 22 of the 44 planned Vestas turbines are now standing in the German North Sea, 50 kilometres north of the island of Juist, as part of a 660MW offshore wind farm that forms the first phase of a 1.6GW cluster.

Each turbine carries a capacity of up to 15MW. According to RWE, the machines rise to a hub height of 145 metres, with rotor blades 115 metres long, dimensions that place them firmly among the largest offshore turbines currently being deployed at scale. Transport and installation is being carried out using DEME‘s installation vessel Norse Wind.

RWE says all 44 turbines are expected to be installed by the end of 2026, with testing and commissioning proceeding step by step. The first turbine began generating electricity and feeding it into the grid at the end of July, while full grid connection for Nordseecluster A is scheduled for the beginning of 2027.

Nordseecluster A turbine installation: what the numbers actually mean

The 660MW first phase is not the whole story. Nordseecluster B will add a further 900MW, bringing the combined capacity to 1.6GW. Foundation production for Phase B has already started, with offshore installation scheduled for next year, followed by the installation of 60 Vestas turbines in 2028 and commercial operations targeted for early 2029.

Taken together, RWE’s project page states that Vestas has been selected to deliver a minimum of 104 offshore wind turbines across the full cluster: 44 for Phase A and 60 for Phase B. The combined output of both phases is expected to reach around 6.5 terawatt hours of electricity annually.

To put that in context: 6.5TWh is a substantial contribution to Germany’s grid, though how much decarbonisation credit it earns depends on what capacity it displaces and how curtailment is managed as the German grid absorbs more offshore generation. The operational carbon story will become clearer once full commissioning figures are published.

Ownership structure and the NBIM stake

Nordseecluster is a joint project. RWE holds a 51% share, with Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) holding the remaining 49%. RWE is responsible for both construction and subsequent operation. NBIM’s near-half stake is a reminder that major European pension and sovereign wealth capital has been flowing into offshore wind infrastructure, the asset class suits long-duration, yield-seeking investors, provided construction risk is properly managed and transfer-of-risk milestones are clearly defined in the partnership agreement. The report does not disclose those terms.

Tobias Keitel, RWE Offshore Wind’s chief technology officer, framed the project in terms of both energy security and decarbonisation. ‘With a total of 1.6 gigawatts, the Nordseecluster is currently our largest offshore wind project under construction,’ he said. ‘Once it is in full operation, it will strengthen Germany’s energy security and at the same time contribute towards the decarbonisation of the industry.’

The energy security framing is doing real work here: Germany has been reshaping its generation mix at pace, and large-scale offshore wind capacity with firm commissioning timelines carries genuine policy weight, not just marketing value.

Timeline and what still needs to go right

The sequencing from here is tight but not unusual for a project of this scale. All 44 Phase A turbines installed by the end of 2026; full connection at the start of 2027; Phase B foundations in the water next year; Phase B turbines in 2028; commercial operations in early 2029. Each of those handoffs carries weather, supply-chain and grid-connection risk.

Norse Wind’s single-vessel installation also means any prolonged downtime on that asset would compress the schedule. Whether DEME has contingency arrangements in place is not addressed in RWE’s announcement.

The next concrete milestone to watch: RWE’s stated target of completing all 44 Nordseecluster A turbines before the end of 2026, a date the company has now publicly committed to.