REpower: 1,500 megawatts from offshore wind energy in Germany by the end of 2011 is realistic

- Prof Vahrenholt, Chairman of the Board of Management, provides outlook for offshore development at Maritime Conference in Hamburg
- Production site planned for 5M serial production

Hamburg, 4 December 2006. In the view of Professor Fritz Vahrenholt, CEO at REpower Systems AG, offshore wind farms with an output of 1,500 megawatts in Germany are realistic by the end of 2011. During today’s podium discussion at the National Maritime Conference in Hamburg, he welcomed the resolution of the Federal Government to have eliminated a significant obstacle with the infrastructure law, i.e. the question of grid connection costs: in future, these costs will have to be borne not by the investors but – as is the case with traditional power stations – by the grid operators. Against this background, Prof Vahrenholt announced a short-term decision on a location for the serial production of the offshore turbine REpower 5M.

Investments in offshore wind farms will therefore become up to 30% more economical. Vahrenholt explained: “With this, the Federal Government has made the use of offshore wind energy the focus of renewable energy development. In my view, by 2011, it will be possible to supply 1,500 megawatts to the grid. To do this, five cables will have to be produced. We have adapted to this development with our 5M offshore turbine, 200 to 250 of which we plan to produce by the end of 2011. Shortly, we will also decide about a production site which meets these requirements.”

He pointed out: “Now that politicians and manufacturers have done their homework, investors, energy supply companies as well as banks and insurers must now also come on board if this development is to be a success.“

About 1,000 participants are expected to attend the fifth Maritime Conference in Hamburg. Like previous conferences in Emden, Rostock, Lubeck and Bremen, this conference is essentially a continuation of the cross-sector dialogues with the objective of further consolidating the competitiveness of Germany’s maritime economy. The German Chancellor, Mrs Merkel, is to give a speech on this topic at the opening assembly.