Vikings on the Loose! Wikinger Offshore Wind Farm Marks Iberdrola's Market Entry into Germany

Big, bigger, Iberdrola - this is how the Spanish energy group Iberdrola has just entered the German wind market. The company is one of the five largest energy suppliers in the world and this week ceremoniously entered the German offshore market with the inauguration of the Wikinger OWF in the Baltic Sea.

The 70 wind turbines from Siemens Gamesa were installed in water depths of 36 to 42 meters on an area of 34 square kilometers off the coast of the island of Rügen. The 350-megawatt wind farm can supply around 350,000 households with electricity, with the amount of electricity produced corresponding to around 20 percent of the energy requirements of the federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania where the OWF is located. At the same time, the generation of wind power saves more than 600,000 tons of CO2 annually. No wonder that politicians are also impressed by this major project.

Christian Pegel, Minister for Energy, Infrastructure and Digitisation of the State of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, emphasised the importance of the investments for the North German federal state in addition to the role for the energy transition: "Offshore wind energy offers considerable employment and industrial policy opportunities for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Projects such as Wikinger OWF increase the importance of the Baltic Sea as an offshore location and have a positive effect on the order situation of the offshore industry in our coastal state. This includes not only the turbine manufacturers. The maritime industry, suppliers, service providers and ports also profit from this. The port of Sassnitz-Mukran in particular is a good example of the upturn in the offshore industry."

Especially regarding jobs, politicians in the northeast of Germany with a high unemployment rate welcome the offshore wind industry. During the construction phase, around 2000 people were employed throughout Europe to realise the Wikinger wind farm.

The Wikinger wind farm and the Andalucía transformer station (Image: Iberdrola)

Ignacio Galán, President of Iberdrola, already looked ahead at the opening ceremony: "We will continue to be committed to offshore wind technology in the future, as it will enable us to drive the energy system transformation process towards a sustainable, low-carbon economy." He added: "This wind farm is a clear example of the use of cutting-edge technologies and demonstrates the enormous potential of the European energy industry to advance the reindustrialisation of the continent through innovation".

In the second offshore wind auction in Germany, Iberdrola was awarded the contract for two further offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea with a total capacity of 486 megawatts. With a total installed capacity of 836 megawatts, these three projects off the coast of Rügen will create the largest offshore wind farm complex in the Baltic Sea. The estimated total investment is 2.5 billion euros. In addition to the central markets of the USA, Great Britain, Mexico, Brazil and Spain, Germany will thus become a focus of investment for the Iberdrola Group in the coming years. Iberdrola is also currently building the East Anglia (EAO) offshore wind farm in the British North Sea, which will be one of the largest offshore wind farms in the world when it is commissioned in 2020.