New financing model helps kick-start construction of Cuxhaven offshore wind terminal

Expansion of facilities for offshore wind at Cuxhaven is essential if the federal government’s plans for the expansion of offshore wind capacity are to be met. By 2045, the government wants offshore windfarms with an installed capacity of 70 GW, that will generate almost a third of Germany’s electricity. The government wants offshore wind capacity to increase from 8.3 GW to 30 GW by 2030. If these goals are to be achieved, a massive expansion in port capacity will be required.

The project to build the new terminal is due to get underway in February 2025. Operated by Niedersachsen Ports, the offshore wind terminal will consist of three new berths and 1,250 m of new quay wall for heavy loads, as well as a storage area of 38 hectares. When built, the new berths will provide a continuous quay between the Europakai – berths 1-4 – and the existing offshore berths, 8 and 9.

Niedersachsen Ports, which owns Port of Cuxhaven, anticipates that construction of berths 5-7 will cost around €300M (US$317M), of which €200M will be provided by a Joint Task for the Improvement of the Regional Economic Structure. The port will assume responsibility for the remaining €100M through a prefinancing agreement. The European Commission approved the public partial financing of the new berths in September 2024.

As part of the process, Cuxport GmbH will receive a terminal concession for the berths and terminal areas 5 and 6.1 (Lot 1), which will have an area of approximately 19 hectares. A second concessionaire, Blue Water Breb, has secured a contract for the adjacent terminal area 6.2 and 7 (Lot 2), which is the same size as that granted to Cuxport. Around 28 hectares of new terminal space and 10 hectares of other land will be created which will be capable of being loaded to 15 tonnes/m2. By 2029, ships of all types up to a length of 300 m will be able to use berths 5 to 7.

A contract to build the new offshore terminal has been awarded to the New Construction of Berths 5 to 7 Working Group, which consists of Tiefbau Unterweser, Heinrich Hirdes, Nordsee Nassbagger- und Tiefbau and DEPENBROCK Ingenieurwasserbau.

Lower Saxony Minister for Economic Affairs and Transport Olaf Lies said, “We have been working on planning and financing for a long time. It was a major undertaking. Now we can count down the few days until pile-driving is initiated.”

Mr Lies said the project will create “urgently needed capacity for the energy industry.” He said the new berths and terminal facilities will help secure the expansion of offshore windfarms in the German sector of the North Sea and create incentives for companies to invest in Lower Saxony. “This expansion is an essential building block, driving forward the energy transition in Germany and Europe,” he said.

Niedersachsen Ports managing director Holger Banik said, “This is a new model for financing port infrastructure.” Minister Lies said he was “extremely pleased” that the federal government, the state and the port had developed a joint financing solution.

As part of the contract to build the new facilities, DEME has been awarded a contract to execute the dredging and land reclamation work for the terminal. More than 3M m³ of material is expected to be reclaimed using two trailing suction hopper dredgers, a backhoe dredger and several barges.