Green light for serial production of the 5M offshore turbine

- Supervisory Board approves production site in Bremerhaven as immediate solution
- Subsequent production planned in Rendsburg-Osterrönfeld

Hamburg, 5 December 2006. In its meeting today, the Supervisory Board of REpower Systems AG (WKN 617703) decided on the future production site for the REpower 5M. In order to be able to begin serial production, due to the great demand for this 5-megawatt turbine developed specifically for offshore use, production in Bremerhaven is to start as early as 2007. In the long-term, the turbine nacelles are to be produced in Rendsburg-Osterrönfeld in Schleswig-Holstein. The requirements in terms of planning for this – e.g. important quay connection for transport – are not yet in place.

The dimensions of the 5M, whose nacelle has the measurements of a single family home and weighs approximately 290 tons, place particular demands on the size and infrastructure of the production site. The first 5M was thus manufactured at HDW shipyard in Kiel and the four subsequent 5Ms were produced at the J. Kramer shipyard in Bremerhaven; afterwards they were shipped. All other REpower Systems AG wind turbines are manufactured in Husum (Nordfriesland district) and Trampe/Brandenburg.

REpower’s CEO, Prof Fritz Vahrenholt, welcomes the decision for a two-stage solution: “Not least by means of the recently agreed infrastructure act which now promotes the development of offshore wind energy in Germany, REpower - as one of the leading manufacturers of onshore and offshore turbines – must be able to begin 5M serial production as soon as possible. We have the possibility of quick and uncomplicated production in Bremerhaven until the approval procedures for Rendsburg have been concluded. Dependent on the development of the offshore energy market, we are also not ruling out long-term production at both sites.”