Germany’s RWE, Canada’s Northland Power team up on German offshore wind

FRANKFURT — Energy group RWE and Canada’s Northland Power on Thursday unveiled plans for a joint venture to build 1.3 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind farms off the German coast and get a bigger slice of the country’s renewables market.

The three offshore wind farms, to be located in the North Sea and expected to start commercial operation between 2026 and 2028, are expected to result in synergies during development and construction, RWE said.

The 51-49 joint venture, which builds on a previous cooperation between the two firms, comes shortly after Germany unveiled significantly more ambitious expansion targets for solar and wind to offset a planned phase-out of coal-fired power plants.

“Germany has set itself ambitious climate targets, thereby establishing a significant growth potential for renewable energies,” said Sven Utermoehlen, who leads the offshore unit of RWE’s renewables division. “RWE is making its contribution to this and is significantly stepping up the pace here.”

RWE, among the largest offshore wind farm developers worldwide, plans to triple the capacity of turbines operated off the coast to 8 GW by the end of the decade from 2.4 GW as part of a 50 billion euro ($57 billion) investment push.

RWE, Germany’s largest power producer, and Northland Power are already partners in the 332 megawatts Nordsee One offshore wind farm. ($1 = 0.8844 euros) (Reporting by Christoph Steitz Editing by Madeline Chambers)