BARD Offshore 1
Located 100km NW of Borkum in 40m water depth. Originally BARD Group; rescued by Ocean Breeze Energy (Macquarie) after BARD insolvency.
Status
Operationallifecycle stage
Ownership
OBOcean Breeze Energy GmbH & Co. KG — 100% ◆
Location
GermanyNorth Sea
Technology
Capacity
400 MW ◆
Turbines
80 × 5 MW ◆
Model
Bard 5-0 ◆
Foundation
Tripile ◆
Site & conditions
Site rights
Seabed rights held ∴
Water depth
39–41 m ≈
Distance from shore
100 km ◆
Wind speed
9.9 m/s @ 100 m ≈
Revenue & grid
Offtake
FiT ◆
Grid
Secured · 2013-09 ◆
Connection
TenneT BorWin1 HVDC (BorwinAlpha offshore converter platform; … ◆
Schedule
FID
Taken · date not recorded ∴
COD
Sep 2013 ◆
Project timeline & ownership verified milestones on the spine · ownership from Hafrok’s transactions record
Acquisition · 2013-11
BARD Group (insolvent) → Ocean Breeze Energy (UniCredit) 100%
- Stake
- 100%
- Consideration
- not disclosed
- Announced
- 2013-11
- Closed
- 2014-03
- Project stage
- operational
BARD Group went bankrupt November 2013 immediately after commissioning (August 2013). Project taken over by Ocean Breeze Energy GmbH, SPV owned by UniCredit/HVB (main project lender), in distressed debt-to-equity conversion. No arm's-length purchase price; lender enforcement action. UniCredit later wrote down ~EUR 259m at exit.
Evidence
- offshorewind.biz ↗
- nsenergybusiness.com — Macquarie to acquire 400MW BARD Offshore 1 wind farm from Unicredit ↗ 2013-11 ◆ held
- tamarindo.global — Bard Offshore 1: 'How we turned it around' ↗ 2013-11 ◆ held
From Hafrok’s transactions record
Acquisition · 2019-08
UniCredit (Ocean Breeze Energy) → Macquarie 100%
- Stake
- 100%
- Consideration
- not disclosed
- Announced
- 2019-08
- Closed
- 2019-11
- Project stage
- operational
Macquarie (MEIF5-led consortium) acquired Ocean Breeze Energy (100% of BARD Offshore 1) from UniCredit. Deal value undisclosed; UniCredit disclosed negative gross impact of EUR 259m, indicating sale well below loan book value. Announced August 2019; EC approved September 2019; closed ~November 2019.
Evidence
- Macquarie Group — Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets agrees to acquire BARD Offshore 1 ↗ 2019-08-07 ◆ held
From Hafrok’s transactions record
Dashed tick marks today (9 Sep 2026). Ownership lives in the band below: one station per recorded deal, dated at its label, in deal order rather than to calendar scale. Secondary trades appear only at the interchanges; grey lines are parties whose entry or exit Hafrok’s record does not hold.
Announced-COD history: 2013-Q3→2013-09 · 2 recorded revisions · held (announced 2013-Q3, unchanged)
Revenue & offtake the regime the project was built under
Offtake regime on record
RegimeEEG 2009 initial tariff 15.0 ct/kWh for offshore wind commissioning before end-2015; period extended by distance/depth bonus (100 km offshore, 40 m depth). EEG tariff period runs through approx. 2024-2026. From April 2023, electricity marketed by RWE Supply & Trading under direct-marketing PPA until 2030; from 2026 gradually switching to fixed price regime (RWE press release 12 Apr 2023).
InstrumentFiT
A built project sells its power under the contract or support regime it was financed with; it is not expected to bid into new government offtake rounds. Where the record does not yet name that regime, the row says so rather than guessing.
Installation how the build is going · from satellite counts and Hafrok’s registers
Satellite survey
the farm as it stands, counted from satellite radar images · built before the count began, so there is no build to chart
Satellite survey
Structures standing81≈80 turbines + 2 platforms expected · 1 fewer than expected — a position the survey missed
Surveyed2026-08-31≈from 115 satellite passes
Built2010 → 2013-09offshore construction to start of operation, from the record
Hafrok counts the structures standing in the sea from satellite radar images (≈) and reads the count against the turbines and platforms on record. The farm was built before this count began, so the images show it complete; they cannot date its construction. Rows marked with a dot (·) come from Hafrok’s own registers.
Satellite image
Image taken2026-09-06≈Copernicus Sentinel-1 radar satellite, southbound pass
Farm covered100%≈the whole farm lies inside the image
Structures ringed81 confirmed · 0 not yet confirmed≈as counted on 2026-08-31 · the image is newer than the count, so a bright spot without a ring may be a structure not yet counted
Construction ports
PortEmden ◆·marshalling · quay 5500 m · draft 11.9 m
Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026, processed by ESA and by Microsoft Planetary Computer.
Latest satellite radar image · 2026-09-06
a radar picture, not a photograph: the sea is dark, steel is bright · black is beyond the edge of the image
confirmed structure (81)seen recently, not yet confirmed (0)probably a substation platform (a larger structure than a turbine; the register above has the facts)farm boundary
Grid connection
from Hafrok’s substation, converter and cable registers
Offshore platforms · 2
Offshore substationUmspannplattform "BARD 1"·155 kV · in service 2010 · owner BARD Offshore 1 wind farm owner (farm-owned platform, distinct from the adjacent TenneT converter)
HVDC systemBorWin1·400 MW · ±150 kV · in service 2010
Converter supplierABB (HVDC business now Hitachi Energy)·BorWin1 · Vlissingen, Netherlands · for TenneT
Grid connection · ready in time?
when each part of the grid connection is due, against the start date the developer states (black line) · a bar spans the whole year, quarter or month the source gives
installed or in serviceexpected deliveryearlier date that was later moved
Sources & verification
14/18 fields verified · rests on 13 sources (5 primary) · ◆ 9 documents held
◆Verified≈Modelled◇Sourced∴Inferred⌁Convention○Unverified∅No source·Derived
Numbers are stable citation ids — grouped by source class, so they are not consecutive.
Regulator2
[1]
Bundesamt fuer Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (BSH)2007-04-11◆ Genehmigungsbescheid Offshore-Windpark B…
“Hamburg, den 11. April 2007 — Genehmigung fuer 80 (achtzig) WEA einschliesslich Nebenanlagen wie der parkinternen Verkabelung, einer Umspannanlage und einer Wohnplattform. [...] Die Eckkoordinaten (ge…”
supportsConsentTurbinesConsent granted
[12]
Bundesnetzagentur — Marktstammdatenregister2026-08-23◆ Marktstammdatenregister (MaStR) offshore…
“Park row "Bard Offshore 1 - C1 - 51573657505": 8 units, 44.0 MW gross, statuses {'In Betrieb': 8}, operators ['Ocean Breeze Energy GmbH ＆ Co. KG'], commissioned 2012-06-16..2013-04-28, planned None..N…”
supportsRegister entry
Operator4
[2]
Ocean Breeze Energy GmbH & Co. KG2025
“80 BARD 5.0 wind energy converter of the 5 megawatt-Class totalling 400 MW. Tripiles consisting of three hollow cylindrical piles (3.35 m diameter) connected through a transition piece. Water depth: u…”
supportsFirst powerCommercial operationCOD historyTurbinesModel+3 more
[3]
Macquarie Group2019-08-07◆ Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets…
“Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA), via a Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 5 led consortium, has agreed to acquire Ocean Breeze Energy, the owner of North Sea wind farm BARD Offshor…”
supportsTurbinesUnit capacityTotal capacityDistance from shore
[6]
RWE Supply & Trading GmbH2023-04-12◆ RWE and Ocean Breeze Energy sign green P…
“RWE Supply & Trading and Ocean Breeze Energy, operator of BARD Offshore 1 — an offshore wind farm 100 km off Germany's North Sea coast with 80 turbines totalling 400 MW capacity — have signed a long-t…”
supportsMechanismDetail
[13]
Macquarie Group2019-08-07◆ Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets…
“Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA), via a Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 5 led consortium, has agreed to acquire Ocean Breeze Energy, the owner of North Sea wind farm BARD Offshor…”
supports↳ parent
Trade press6
[4]
Offshore Wind Biz2019-09-25◆ Macquarie Cleared to Buy German Offshore…
Press report — cited, not quoted; read it at the source link.
supportsoperator
[5]
Offshore Wind Biz2013-08-02◆ Germany: BARD Offshore 1 Completed ahead…
Press report — cited, not quoted; read it at the source link.
supportsCommercial operationTurbinesTotal capacity
[7]
IRENA / GWEC2013◆ 30 Years of Policies for Wind Energy: Le…
“The 2009 revision of the EEG included an increased initial tariff for offshore wind energy. Pursuant to the EEG, the initial tariff for 12 years is 15 Euro cents per kWh for wind turbines commissioned…”
supportsMechanismDetail
[8]
NS Energy Business2023◆ BARD Offshore 1 Wind Farm in German Nort…
Press report — cited, not quoted; read it at the source link.
supportsFinal investment decisionOffshore constructionSite rightsStatusConnection point+1 more
[10]
[11]
Encyclopaedic1
[9]