REpower supplies six 5M for German offshore test field

Hamburg/Berlin, 2nd October 2006. REpower Systems AG is now to supply six – instead of the originally planned four - wind turbines for the first offshore wind farm in the German North Sea. In a press conference today in Berlin, the German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel announced the signing of the agreement “Borkum West” which is scheduled to be erected in 2008. The wind farm has a total of 12 wind turbines of the 5-megawatt class. For research and development in the offshore test area located 45 kilometres off the island of Borkum, the German Environment Ministry promised subsidies of EUR 50 million over five years, subject to the approval of the EU Commission.

In the context of the press conference, REpower’s CEO, Prof Fritz Vahrenholt, stated: “By supplying the first German offshore wind farm, REpower is extending its advantage in the 5-megawatt class. For us, Borkum is the ‘shop window’ for the 3,000 megawatt wind energy which the German government is targeting in the North Sea and Baltic Sea over the next few years.” He stressed, “We will do all in our power to ensure that offshore technology from Germany is a success story, making a significant construction on the competitive edge of wind energy.”

REpower is a member of the Offshore Wind Energy Foundation, which acquired the rights to “Borkum West” last year. The REpower 5M wind turbine was developed especially for offshore operations. In addition to the onshore prototype in Brunsbüttel (Schleswig-Holstein/Germany), a 5M turbine was erected offshore at the end of August for the first time with a water depth of 44 metres off the Scottish coast in the scope of a demonstrator project.