Germany’s Alpha Ventus offshore wind farm will get a new owner and continue operating rather than being decommissioned as originally planned. Ocean Breeze Energy is acquiring the project from the EWE, RWE and Vattenfall consortium, with the deal expected to close in Q4 2026.
Key facts:
- Alpha Ventus is Germany’s first offshore wind farm, commissioned in 2010.
- Installed capacity: 60 MW across 12 turbines, located approximately 45 km north of the island of Borkum.
- Decommissioning costs were estimated at around €50 million, with work set to begin from 2027.
- The buyer, Ocean Breeze Energy, already operates the neighboring 400 MW BARD Offshore 1 wind farm.
From Decommissioning Decision to Sale
In May 2025, the EWE, RWE and Vattenfall consortium announced it would retire Alpha Ventus and work with regulators on an environmentally sound decommissioning plan. Last November, a contractor qualification process was launched with works scheduled to begin from 2027 and a contract value estimated at around €50 million. According to offshorewind.biz, instead of proceeding with decommissioning, the consortium is now selling the farm to Ocean Breeze Energy; the financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
The owners had also explored repowering — replacing the aging turbines with modern units — but EWE and RWE stressed that Alpha Ventus was conceived as a test site rather than a conventional commercial wind farm. The limited plot area and the physical dimensions and weight of today’s turbines made such a swap technically difficult.
Why Ocean Breeze Sees Value in Continuing Operations
Ocean Breeze Energy has been operating the neighboring BARD Offshore 1 wind farm for over a decade — 80 turbines of 5 MW each, totaling 400 MW of installed capacity. The company argues that its hands-on experience managing legacy turbine technology is precisely what makes profitable continued operation of Alpha Ventus feasible.
“With BARD Offshore 1, we have more than ten years of experience operating offshore wind farms with legacy turbine technology and see significant potential for the profitable operation of Alpha Ventus,” said Ocean Breeze Energy CEO Jean Huby.
Technically, Alpha Ventus is a complex asset: it comprises six Adwen M5000 turbines and six Senvion 5M units installed on two different foundation types. For years the farm served as a research platform for the development of Germany’s offshore wind sector — spanning turbine and foundation technology through to operations and maintenance practice.
A Precedent for Life Extension
Alpha Ventus is approaching the end of its originally planned 20-year operational lifespan. For the sellers, the deal is an opportunity to avoid €50 million in decommissioning costs; for the buyer, it means entering an asset with existing infrastructure and well-understood operating conditions. Neither Ocean Breeze nor the consortium has disclosed the financial terms, making it difficult to assess the scale of benefit for either party.
What This Means for Offshore Wind
The Alpha Ventus case demonstrates that “end of life” for an offshore wind farm does not automatically mean decommissioning. Alongside retirement and repowering, a third path is taking shape: transferring the asset to a specialist operator experienced in aging technology. The challenges of decommissioning and recycling wind turbines in Germany show that building in an answer early saves both money and time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What will happen to the Adwen and Senvion turbines, which are no longer in production?
Ocean Breeze Energy plans to service Alpha Ventus drawing on the expertise built up through operating BARD Offshore 1. The company has not publicly disclosed details of its technical strategy or investment plans for extending the asset’s operational life.
Sources: offshorewind.biz
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