North Sea off Borkum

The chain of the place

1. 01

   The beginning: It began in 2009 with twelve test turbines: alpha ventus, 45 km off Borkum.

2. 02

   The cluster: By 2020 the cluster had grown to 284 turbines with about 1,660 MW.

3. 03

   Collecting: Each farm collects its power on a substation platform and steps it up from 33 to 155 kV.

4. 04

   Direct current: The converter platform turns it into direct current, which loses less on long submarine cables.

5. 05

   Ashore: Submarine cables carry the power to the coast near Norden and on to the Emsland.

6. 06

   Maintenance: Supply vessels bring technicians to the turbines.

What is shown – why – for whom

Facilities and areas in the model

• alpha ventus

  Germany's first offshore test field: 12 turbines of 5 MW each, six by Areva and six by REpower, in about 30 m of water. First kilowatt hour in August 2009, complete from April 2010.

• Umspannplattform alpha ventus

  AC substation platform 110/30 kV. From here a 110 kV submarine cable runs via Norderney to the Hagermarsch substation, about 60 km.

• Windpark Borkum I

  Built by an alliance of about 30 municipal utilities: 40 turbines of 5 MW each, since 2015.

• Windpark Borkum II

  Second phase 2019/20: 32 turbines of 6.3 MW each with a 152 m rotor.

• Borkum Riffgrund 1

  78 turbines with about 330 MW in total, in operation since 2015 (Ørsted).

• Borkum Riffgrund 2

  56 turbines of 8.3 MW each with a 164 m rotor, built in 2018/19. At the time they were among the largest wind turbines in the world.

• Merkur Offshore

  66 turbines of 6 MW each, about 400 MW, in operation since 2019.

• DolWin alpha (DolWin1)

  Converter platform: it turns the wind farms' alternating current into ±320 kV direct current, 800 MW, since July 2015. Borkum Riffgrund 1 and both Borkum farms are connected.

• DolWin gamma (DolWin3)

  Second converter platform at the same place, 900 MW, since 2018. It links Merkur Offshore and Borkum Riffgrund 2 with the shore.

• Umspannplattform Borkum

  The wind farm's substation platform: steps the power up from the array grid (33 kV) to 155 kV (position OpenStreetMap).

• Umspannplattform Borkum Riffgrund 1

  The wind farm's substation platform: steps the power up from the array grid (33 kV) to 155 kV (position OpenStreetMap).

• Umspannplattform Borkum Riffgrund 2

  The wind farm's substation platform: steps the power up from the array grid (33 kV) to 155 kV (position OpenStreetMap).

• Umspannplattform Merkur

  The wind farm's substation platform: steps the power up from the array grid (33 kV) to 155 kV (position OpenStreetMap).

Processes in the model

How offshore wind can use the model

• Operations and grid connection

  Wind farms, substation platforms, converters and cable routes in one picture: the model shows which farms are connected to which converter platform and how the power goes from 33 kV via 155 kV to direct current.

  For whomOperators, grid connection, offshore planning

• Coast and region

  What is built out at sea arrives at the coast: submarine cables come ashore near Norden and continue to the Emsland. The picture links sea and inland for talks about landfall and expansion.

  For whomCoastal municipalities, economic development, chambers

• Schools and universities

  Why is offshore power transmitted as direct current? The six steps from the beginning in 2009 via cluster, collecting and direct current to the shore and maintenance fly to each part.

  For whomTeachers, electrical and marine engineering students

• Museums and exhibitions

  Time travel shows 2009, 2015, 2019 and 2025: first twelve test turbines, then Borkum I and Borkum Riffgrund 1, then Borkum II, Borkum Riffgrund 2 and Merkur. The diagram ‘Additions and closures’ shows the additions per year.

  For whomMuseums, exhibitions, visitor centres

• Public communication

  What happens when a storm comes? In the stormy night the farms deliver more than is needed: power flows south and abroad, yellow rings show curtailment, storage charges.

  For whomPublic relations, associations, policymakers

What you can change

What the model gives offshore wind

• 01

  The sea as a place

  Open sea with waves, wind farms, platforms and supply vessels in 3D, from high above to close to the turbines. The wind control raises rotors and sea state together.

• 02

  From test field to cluster

  Time travel shows the path from twelve test turbines in 2009 to 284 turbines. The history of the place jumps to every year.

• 03

  Power now above the farm

  Above Merkur Offshore stands a stack of cubes, one cube 20 MW, the frame the installed capacity. In calm weather it shrinks, in the stormy night it grows.

• 04

  The way ashore belongs to it

  The place ‘Coast near Norden’ shows where the submarine cables come ashore under the dike – both places are part of the same model.

• 05

  In the browser and on the big screen

  A browser is enough, and large projections work too. Eleven more places and the map of Germany are part of the same model, designed by an artist and developer.

• 

  Coast near Norden

  Where energy from the North Sea comes ashore, as a walkable model: six direct-current cables under the dike, natural gas from Norway since 1995 and more than 200 wind turbines behind the dike.

• 

  Paderborn plateau

  One of the densest wind landscapes in North Rhine-Westphalia as a walkable model: every turbine with its year, from the 500 kW turbine of 1995 to the 6.2 MW turbine with a 169 m hub.

• 

  Lingen

  The whole nuclear era in one place as a walkable model: the Lingen nuclear plant of 1968, the Emsland nuclear plant until April 2023, interim storage and dismantling – next to them gas, a battery and hydrogen.

• 

  Wilhelmshaven

  Germany’s only deep-water port as a walkable model: crude oil for the pipeline to the Rhineland, coal for two power plants and, since December 2022, liquefied natural gas from Germany’s first LNG terminal.

• 

  Germany 1975–2025

  Fifty years of energy supply on one map: 365 sites, ten grid regions and the power of every hour – from two separate grids in 1975 to wind and sun in 2025.

• 

  Rhineland lignite district

  The Rhineland lignite district as a walkable model: from the Garzweiler mine via conveyors, boilers and cooling towers into the 380 kV grid – while wind, sun and batteries grow on the reclaimed land.

• 

  Düsseldorf Lausward

  A combined-cycle gas plant on the Rhine as a walkable model: power to the grid, heat via a 58 m storage tank and the district heating line into the media harbour and the city centre.

• 

  Herdecke

  Three generations of storage at Lake Hengstey as a walkable model: the Koepchenwerk of 1930, the pumped-storage plant of 1989 and batteries since 2017 – the level in the reservoir follows sun, wind and demand.