Offshore Wind Farm Nordergründe: Germans only

The German offshore wind branch used to have problems for a long time. High installation costs, lack of experience and mistakes in planning and construction led to bankruptcies of companies in the past and nearly destroyed the whole industry before it even came into being. But this picture has changed during the last months: First offshore wind farms are operating and producing electricity – in some cases even more than predicted. Furthermore, at the end of last year the industry was able to reach the important milestone of 1 GW of installed capacity.

Now another story of success is about to follow: Last week German project developer wpd announced that the offshore wind farm of Nordergründe will be built exclusively by Gerrman companies. Furthermore all participating companies are located in the northwest of the country.

Energiekontor sold Nordergründe to wpd in 2013 (Copyright: Energiekontor)

Nordergründe offshore wind farm will be built 15 kilometers northeast of the German island of Wangerooge within territorial waters (12 nautical miles) of the German North Sea. It will have an installed capacity of approximately 111 MW and will be able to supply more than 70,000 households with power per year. It will be constructed and put into operation in 2016.

AMBAU won the contract for the construction of the foundations which will be placed in water depths of 10 meters. The company has just finished the same work for the German wind farm EnBW Baltic 2 in the Baltic Sea at the end of last year. The substation will be built by BVT (Brenn- und Verformtechnik Bremen GmbH) while the contract for inner-park cabling went to NSW (Norddeutschen Seekabelwerke).

Shipping foundations (Copyright: AMBAU)

The turbines will be delivered by Senvion. It is the first time for wpd to buy 6MW turbines for one of their projects. The turbines and rotor blades are produced by Senvion and PowerBlades at Bremerhaven and will then be transported directly to their destination from there. The nacelle alone is as big as two single-family houses and will be assembled offshore at a hub height between 97 and 100 meters. Each rotor blade is more than 60 meters long and weighs about 23 tonnes. The rotor star has a diameter of 126 meters, with the rotors sweeping an area larger than two football pitches.

6.2M126 turbines of Senvion (Copyright: Senvion)

Martin Günthner, Senator of Economic Affairs, Labour and Ports of the City of Bremen, is quite delighted about the project. The job market of Bremen has been in serious need of some positive news, because the last months have been dominated by the bankruptcy of WeserWind and short-time working at the factories of Areva and PowerBlades. “We are pleased that the new contract means that PowerBlades can return to production. It’s an important message to the offshore sector and the region of Bremerhaven. Today, it is clearer than ever that short-time working was the right tool chosen for the transitional period. Most of all I would like to express my thanks for the constructive cooperation with Senvion; thanks to them, we can continue on a path with a long-term perspective.”

Bilfinger Marine & Offshore Systems will deliver the monopiles for the turbines and the substation. The monopiles will be up to 55 meters long and transported to the construction site by the company. Bilfinger also had some problems in the last months causing the company to put their offshore business up for sale. But the Nordergründe project will not be influenced by this decision.

Bilfinger will deliver the monopiles. (Copyright: Bilfinger)

Achim Berge Olsen, managing director of wpd offshore GmbH, says it was not planned to have German suppliers and manufacturers only: “No, that's the commercial result of our international tender. It only showed off in the end. There always has to be an international tender, but Nordergründe shows the good chances of local manufacturers and suppliers in this process. Especially German companies show their competitiveness.”

wpd has further plans with a total of 6,700 megawatts onshore. With a pipeline of 6,400 megawatts wpd AG is also one of Europe's leading developers of offshore wind farms. The next projects will be French Courseulles and Fécamp in the English Channel with a capacity of nearly 1000MW. Both projects will be built in 2016. But there are big changes coming up for the German offshore market: There will be a construction cap and tenders will be introduced to the market.

The German only wind farm looks like a momentum though. Achim Bege Olsen approves of last year's reformation of the EEG, but also sees upcoming problems: “There is a planning reliability for a certain amount of time now. But after reaching the cap there will be instability again.”

Andreas Nauen, CEO of Senvion SE, says: “Successful energy turnaround needs offshore wind energy. Clear framework conditions will fill the order books again. We are very happy that our turbines and rotor blades from Bremerhaven are being used for the wind farm of wpd, a Bremen company. This project will create a lot of value locally. Thanks to the clear compensation provisions of the EEG (Renewable Energy Sources Act) our clients will be able to plan reliably, but the German offshore sector will soon need clear indicators for the years after 2019. The preparations for EEG 3.0 are the next step, and must start already this year.” Achim Berge Olsen adds: “The design of the tenders will be of great influence. It is important to keep the market open for as many participants as possible.”