EnBW speeds up offshore wind: Investment decision on next offshore wind farm taken

Karlsruhe. EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG has increased the pace at which it is expanding wind energy at sea: Just a few days after having its bid for the 900 megawatt project EnBW He Dreiht accepted in Germany's first offshore wind power auction, the company's Supervisory Board has now given the green light for the next offshore wind farm EnBW Albatros and approved the final decisions taken regarding construction and investment.

EnBW Albatros already has binding approval for connection to the grid and will now be constructed together with the offshore wind farm EnBW Hohe See (497 megawatts) that was approved in December 2016. Albatros will feature 16 turbines of type Siemens SWT-7.0-154 and will have an installed capacity of 112 megawatts. EnBW will realise both wind farms by 2019 as a joint project with a capacity of around 610 megawatts. This marks another milestone for the company from Karlsruhe in its strategic orientation towards renewable energies and will be its fourth offshore wind farm.

EnBW Albatros is located in the so-called "exclusive economic zone" of the North Sea in the immediate vicinity of the EnBW wind farms Hohe See and He Dreiht on an area covering 11 square kilometres. After the scheduled commissioning of the wind farms in 2019, Hohe See and Albatros will together generate around 2.5 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually. This energy can supply around 710,000 households and save around 1.9 million tonnes of CO2. The electricity generated by Albatros and Hohe See will thus cover the aggregate electricity requirements of all private households in Munich – Germany's third largest city.

The supply contracts for all main infrastructure work for Albatros have already been concluded. The issuing of the notice to proceed to the suppliers also signals the start of the construction, installation and commissioning of the offshore wind farm. Siemens AG has been appointed general contractor for the turbines, foundations and, for the first time, the transformer station. The Dutch company GEOSEA NV is the subcontractor responsible for the foundations. The contractual partner for the array cabling at the wind farm is VBMS GmbH.