innogy successful in German offshore auction

innogy SE has been awarded in the second German offshore auction the rights to build and operate the Kaskasi offshore wind farm in the German North Sea with an installed capacity of circa 325 megawatts (MW). The Bundesnetzagentur, Germany’s federal regulatory authority, has confirmed that innogy submitted one of the most competitive bids.

Hans Bünting, COO Renewables of innogy SE, explains: “We are very pleased that our Kaskasi project has been successful in Germany’s latest offshore auction, reconfirming our ability to successfully compete in a challenging market environment. Following our success in the latest renewables auction in UK, in which we received a Contract for Difference for our 860 MW Triton Knoll offshore wind project, this is another milestone in capturing value accretive growth options.”

Kaskasi offshore wind farm further strengthens innogy’s already significant development pipeline in both on and offshore wind, as well as solar. innogy will continue to execute this pipeline under value-optimising principles, in particular considering various options for partnerships and financing.

Good wind conditions and secured grid connection

The appropriateness of the location of the Kaskasi wind farm has already been confirmed by Germany’s Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH). The site offers proven good wind conditions and is sited in moderate water depths of 18 to 25 metres. The final investment decision for Kaskasi is expected to be made in spring 2020. The wind farm aims to commence operation in 2022, with definitive timings to be aligned with the offshore grid operator TenneT. The Kaskasi offshore wind farm will be built off Heligoland in the same grid connection cluster (HelWin2) as innogy’s Nordsee Ost wind farm. The converter platform required for grid connection has been in operation for several years. It is intended to achieve synergies in operation and maintenance with the neighbouring Nordsee Ost wind farm.

innogy is one of the world’s leading operators of offshore wind farms

With more than 1,000 MW of installed capacity (pro-rata), innogy is one of the world’s leading operators of offshore wind farms. Together with investment partners the company owns seven operational wind farms off the UK, Germany and Belgian coasts. This includes Nordsee One offshore wind farm (332 MW, innogy share: 13.5%), which started commercial operations at the end of last year and Galloper offshore wind farm (353 MW, innogy share: 25%), which started operations end of March.