Today the Nordsee
Ost wind farm
will be officially inaugurated on the occasion of the meeting of the G7
Energy Ministers in Hamburg. The inauguration will be attended by the German
Minister of Economics, Sigmar Gabriel, and his fellow ministers from the
G7 states, as well as Peter Terium, CEO of RWE AG, Hans Bünting, CEO of
RWE Innogy, and Mel Kroon, CEO of Tennet.
With an installed capacity of 295 megawatts, Nordsee
Ost is one of the largest wind
farms off the German coast. It is located about 35 kilometres north of
Heligoland and covers approx. 24 km2, with water depths of up to 25 metres.
In total, 48 wind turbines will produce sufficient green power to supply
the equivalent of about 320,000 households annually.
Sigmar Gabriel, German Minister of Economics: “Offshore wind energy
is a strategically important element of Germany’s energy and climate policy
and is key to the success of the energy transition. Thanks to its continuous
input into the grid and its high electricity yields, offshore power generation
makes a crucial contribution towards a diversified and reliable energy
supply system."
Peter Terium, CEO of RWE AG: “The expansion of renewable energy is
one of our main growth areas and offshore wind energy will play a vital
role. RWE will become the third largest player in the European offshore
market this year. And we are growing further: In only one month’s time,
we will be commissioning another wind farm, Gwynt y Môr, located off the
coast of Wales.
We are developing and operating additional offshore projects alone and
with partners in Germany, the UK and the Benelux region."
Hans Bünting, CEO of RWE Innogy, adds: “At the end of this year, 40%
of our power generation from renewables will already come from offshore
power production. Thanks to the Nordsee Ost and Gwynt y Môr offshore wind
farms our operating result will see double-digit growth."
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Olaf Scholz, First Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg:
“Today, it is inconceivable to imagine an energy transition without
offshore wind farms as these are the only plants that are capable of nearly
supplying base-load power. The offshore wind technology also offers great
potential for creating value, jobs, innovations and export opportunities."
RWE invested more than one billion euros in the construction of the wind
farm. In addition, the European Union contributed a total of 50 million
euros to the realisation of Nordsee Ost as one of the lighthouse projects
in the field of renewable energies.
Construction was carried out from the base port in Bremerhaven. The foundations,
tower segments, nacelles and rotor blades were stored, pre-assembled and
loaded onto the installation vessels “Victoria Mathias” and “Friedrich
Ernestine” at the Eurogate Container Terminal.
The individual components of the Nordsee
Ost wind farm impress through their huge
dimensions: With around 160 metres from sea level to the tip of the blade,
the wind turbines stand higher than Cologne Cathedral. Each nacelle has
a weight of approx. 350 tonnes and the dimensions of a detached house.
Each rotor blade is more than 60 metres long and weighs 23 tonnes. This
equates to the weight of about six fully-grown elephants.
During construction, more than 60 kilometres of underwater cable were laid.
That is about the length of the Eurotunnel which connects the UK with continental
Europe. All 48 wind turbines and the substation have been linked by these
so-called inter-array cables. The installation vessels covered around 137,000
nautical miles (250,000 km) during the installation of the foundations
and turbines. They could have equally travelled around the world more than
six times. The installation vessels were loaded with the components at
the base port in Bremerhaven from where they were transported some 100
km to the construction field.
For the next 20 years, the Nordsee
Ost wind farm will be operated and serviced
by RWE's own operating station on the island of Heligoland. The control
room will monitor the operation. We have built extra apartment blocks on
the island to house our staff who will work in two-week shifts.
RWE Innogy (15% share) and their partner Northland Power (85% share) are
currently developing the wind farms Nordsee
One, 2
and 3
in the German North Sea. These wind power plants with a total installed
capacity of around 1,000 megawatts are the largest offshore project planned
off the German coast. They are to be built 40 kilometres north of the North
Sea island of Juist, covering an area of about 150 km2. According to current
planning, construction of the offshore components for the first Nordsee
One subproject is due to start in 2016.
Commercial operation is scheduled to begin at the end of 201
