EnBW takes over operational management at BARD Offshore 1

EnBW and the operator of the residential and transformer platform of BARD 1, Ocean Breeze Energy, agreed last year on a service contract for three years on the technical operation of the offshore wind farm BARD Offshore 1.

BARD 1 Offshore is one of the pioneering projects of the German offshore industry. Since 2013, the wind farm has been the first farm in the German North Sea to operate commercially. The 80 5MW wind turbines have a rated output of 400 megawatts. Operator Ocean Breeze Energy had had invited tenders for individual services for the wind farm and awarded EnBW the contract for technical operation of the substation platform.

With the service contract for BARD 1, EnBW is now taking the step towards the third-party supplier market for offshore services in the operations segment. “We are very much looking forward to the collaboration, which for our team represents both familiar ground and new terrain. EnBW has been conversant with terrestrial transformer stations for many years, and with marine transformer stations for almost ten years”, says Michael Boll, Technical Director EOS. “What is new for us is the North Sea and that our team will live at high sea”, Boll continues, because the transformer station of BARD1 is not only the workplace but also the living accommodation of the EOS team – as well as additional users of the available hotel business.

To date, EnBW has been only been active in the Baltic Sea in Germany.