Germany: wpd commences construction of the offshore wind farm Nordergründe

“We are delighted with our positive start at the construction site. The team has done an excellent job so that following our extensive preparations we have now been able to start work on the foundation structures. And commissioning of the wind farm is planned for the end of 2016,“ according to Achim Berge Olsen, Managing Director of wpd offshore GmbH.

wpd is responsible for the construction and operation of the 111 MW Project. Overall a total of 18 Senvion Type 6.2M126 plants are to be set up at the mouth of the Weser near the coast. The wind park is to be established in water depths of up to ten metres within the 12-mile zone of the German North Sea and situated 15 km north-east of the island of Wangerooge. Power will be supplied via an individual connection by the network operator Tennet.

Nordergründe is a unique project. It is the first German offshore project whose equipment is to be supplied and installed exclusively by manufacturers resident and operating in the north-west region of Germany. Besides Senvion (turbines) the companies involved are Ambau (foundations), BVT (transformer stations), NSW (cabling within the wind park) and Bilfinger (installation).

Financing for the project was finalised in June 2015 with the European Investment Bank and KfW IPEX. Besides wpd, since the end of the last year the Gothaer insurance group has also been involved as a provider of equity capital.