Updated: Vattenfall sells Norfolk offshore wind zone to RWE for €1 billion

Vattenfall confirmed the decision late on Thursday (21 December) and said the deal is now pending regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024. 

The zone includes the 1380MW Norfolk Vanguard West , 1.36GW Norfolk Vanguard East and 1396MW Norfolk Boreas . The  company suspended work on the latter earlier this year. 

RWE bought the projects from Vattenfall for £963 million (around €1.1 billion). The German utility said it would resume Norfolk Boreas and continue developing the other two wind gigawatt-scale wind farms too, and expected all three to be commissioned before 2030. 

All three projects are in advanced stages of development, with seabed leases and grid connections agreed, and are located off the UK’s east coast, 50-80km from the Norfolk coastline.  

RWE said it would seek contracts for difference (CfDs) for both the Norfolk Vanguard projects and Norfolk Boreas in one of the upcoming offshore wind tenders in the UK. 

“I am very happy that we will work with Vattenfall towards facilitating team continuity to ensure the successful handover and further development of the projects,” said Sven Utermöhlen, CEO of offshore wind at RWE. 

“Equally I am looking forward to continuing the work with the supply chain companies. We will deliver these as part of our ‘growing green’ investment and growth programme,” he added.

Vattenfall said the sale meant a charge of around €478 million it incurred by suspending Norfolk Boreas would now be avoided. 

Preferred supplier deal

The Swedish uitility announced earlier this week it had secured wind turbine supplier and exclusivity agreements with Danish turbine manufacturer Vestas for the Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone. 

Vestas signed a preferred supplier deal for Norfolk Vanguard West, with intention to supply 92 of its V236-15MW turbines — the largest model in its fleet. Vattenfall said the agreement takes the form of a capacity reservation agreement for the project. 

Vestas also confirmed exclusivity agreements for Norfolk Vanguard East and Norfolk Boreas. 

The Danish manufacturer confirmed on Friday (22 December) it would continue these plans to supply the Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone with RWE going forward. 

“Partnering with RWE on Norfolk Wind Zone follows their agreement with Vattenfall, and we are pleased to add these projects to our existing partnership with RWE, including Nordseecluster, which we announced earlier this year,” Nils de Baar, president of Vestas Northern and Central Europe, said.