Borkum Riffgrund 1
Located 55km NW of German coast, 40km NNW of Borkum. Developed by DONG Energy (now Ørsted).
Status
Operationallifecycle stage
Ownership
Ørsted — 50% ◆GRGreencoat Renewables PLC — 50% ◆
Location
GermanyNorth Sea
Technology
Capacity
312 MW ◆
Turbines
78 × 4 MW ◆
Model
Siemens Swt 4-0-120 ◆
Foundation
Monopile ◆
Site & conditions
Site rights
Seabed rights held ∴
Water depth
24–30 m ◆
Distance from shore
55 km ◆
Wind speed
9.9 m/s @ 100 m ≈
Revenue & grid
Offtake
Other ◆
Grid
Secured · 2015 ◆
Connection
TenneT DolWin alpha HVDC (±320 kV DC; ~130 km offshore cable to … ◆
Schedule
FID
2011 ◆
COD
Oct 2015 ◆
Project timeline & ownership verified milestones on the spine · ownership from Hafrok’s transactions record
Farmdown · 2012-02
Ørsted → KIRKBI / William Demant Invest 50%
- Stake
- 50%
- Consideration
- not disclosed
- Announced
- 2012-02
- Closed
- 2012-05
- Project stage
- FID
DONG Energy (now Ørsted) sold 50% to KIRKBI A/S (32%) and Oticon Foundation via William Demant Invest A/S (18%) for DKK 4.7bn (~EUR 633m at ~7.46 DKK/EUR). Payment structured in four instalments (11%, 12%, 56%, 21% from 2012-2015), tracking the construction expenditure profile. Total project cost ~EUR 1.25bn; DKK 4.7bn for 50% (~EUR 633m) is almost exactly 50% of total capex (~EUR 625m). This is capex-inclusive (buyers funded their 50% share of construction cost through instalment payments). Consistent with treatment of BRG2/BRG3/GW3 Ørsted farmdowns. FID taken 2011; construction commenced 2013; commissioned October 2015.
Evidence
- orsted.com — DONG Energy divests 50 per cent of German offshore wind farm to KIRKBI and the Oticon Foundation ↗ 2012-02 ◆ held
From Hafrok’s transactions record
Secondary trade · 2022-04
KIRKBI / William Demant Invest → Greencoat Renewables 50%
- Stake
- 50%
- Consideration
- €350m
- Implied 100% value
- €700m
- Implied
- €2.24m / MW
- Announced
- 2022-04
- Closed
- 2022-06
- Project stage
- operational
Greencoat Renewables acquired the combined 50% stake held by KIRKBI (31.5%) and William Demant Invest / Oticon Foundation (18.5%) for EUR 350m cash. Secondary trade; Ørsted's 50% not involved. Announced 4 April 2022, closed June 2022. Wind farm benefits from government-backed floor price until May 2035.
Evidence
- renewablesnow.com — Greencoat Renewables to snap up EUR-350m stake in Borkum Riffgrund 1 - Offshore Wind News ↗ 2022-04 ◆ 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: 2015-10→2015-10 · 2 recorded revisions · held (announced 2015-10, unchanged)
Revenue & offtake the regime the project was built under
Offtake regime on record
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 standing79≈78 turbines + 2 platforms expected · 1 fewer than expected — a position the survey missed
Surveyed2026-09-01≈from 118 satellite passes
Built2013-08 → 2015-10offshore 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 · 1 newer pass skipped because the satellite’s track only caught part of the farm (the best of them 9%)
Farm covered100%≈the whole farm lies inside the image
Structures ringed136 confirmed · 0 not yet confirmed≈as counted on 2026-09-01 · the image is newer than the count, so a bright spot without a ring may be a structure not yet counted
Construction ports
PortEemshaven ◆·marshalling · quay 5000 m · crane 50 t · draft 14 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 (136)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 substationBorkum Riffgrund 1 Offshore Substation·155/34 kV · in service 2013 · owner Borkum Riffgrund 1 wind farm owners (Ørsted-led; farm-owned platform)
HVDC systemDolWin1·800 MW · ±320 kV · in service 2015-07 · shared with Borkum West II (Trianel Windpark Borkum)
Converter supplierHitachi Energy (contracted as ABB; ABB Power Grids sold to Hitachi 2020)·DolWin1 · Heerema Fabrication Group (Netherlands), under EPC from ABB; topside design by Iv · 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
17/18 fields verified · rests on 12 sources (10 primary) · ◆ 7 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 für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (BSH)2004-02-25◆ Genehmigungsbescheid Offshore-Windpark B…
"Hamburg, den 25. Februar 2004 — Auf den Antrag der Plambeck Neue Energien AG ... übertragen auf die Projektgesellschaft PNE2 Offshore GmbH ... werden die Errichtung und der Betrieb von 77 einzelnen W…
supportsConsentWater depthCoordinatesConsent granted
[13]
Bundesnetzagentur — Marktstammdatenregister2026-08-23◆ Marktstammdatenregister (MaStR) offshore…
“Park row "Borkum Riffgrund 1": 78 units, 327.4 MW gross, statuses {'In Betrieb': 78}, operators ['Borkum Riffgrund I Offshore Windpark A/S GmbH ＆ Co. oHG'], commissioned 2015-02-16..2015-07-14, planne…”
supportsRegister entry
Operator6
[2]
Ørsted A/S2015-02◆ First power at German offshore wind farm
“Electricity has been generated and fed into the German grid for the first time at the offshore wind farm Borkum Riffgrund 1. … Borkum Riffgrund 1 is located 54 kilometres of coast, 37 kilometres off t…”
supportsFirst powerDistance from shore
[3]
Ørsted A/S2015-10◆ DONG Energys first offshore wind farm in…
"The wind farm is located 37 kilometres north of the German island Borkum and 54 kilometres from the German coast. The 78 wind turbines have a total nominal power of 312 MW. … The planning of the offs…
supportsFinal investment decisionCommercial operationCOD historyTurbinesTotal capacity+1 more
[4]
Ørsted A/S2014-10◆ DONG Energy installs first wind turbine …
“The first of 78 wind turbines has been successfully installed at DONG Energy's first German offshore wind farm, Borkum Riffgrund 1. The wind farm, which has a total capacity of 312MW … The offshore co…”
supportsOnshore constructionOffshore constructionSite rightsTurbinesTotal capacity
[5]
[6]
Ørsted A/S2014-07◆ All 77 foundations are in place at the G…
“The installation of the 77 monopile foundations has been completed at the German offshore wind farm Borkum Riffgrund 1 … Borkum Riffgrund 1 Offshore Wind Farm will consist of 78 wind turbines with a t…”
supportsTurbinesTotal capacityFoundationmarshalling
[9]
Bundesministerium der Justiz (via dejure.org)2012
“In den ersten zwölf Jahren ab der Inbetriebnahme der Offshore-Anlage beträgt die Vergütung 15,0 Cent pro Kilowattstunde (Anfangsvergütung).”
supportsMechanismDetail
Financier2
[7]
Greencoat Renewables PLC2022-04
“Greencoat Renewables PLC … announced an agreement to acquire 50% of the Borkum Riffgrund 1 offshore wind farm in Germany from Kirkbi A/S (31.5%) and William Demant Invest A/S (18.5%) for a total cash …”
supportsCommercial operationTurbinesModelUnit capacityMechanism+1 more
[11]
Greencoat Renewables2022-06
“Greencoat Renewables PLC announces an agreement to acquire 50% of the Borkum Riffgrund 1 offshore wind farm in Germany from Kirkbi A/S (31.5%) and William Demant Invest A/S (18.5%) ... Ørsted, which r…”
supportsoperatorinvestor
Trade press2
[10]
Power Technology / GlobalData2015-12
Press report — cited, not quoted; read it at the source link.
supportsFoundationStatusConnection point
[12]