EnBW and Siemens conclude contract for the supply of 71 offshore wind turbines and 71 foundations

Karlsruhe. EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG (represented by its subsidiary EnBW Hohe See GmbH) and Siemens AG have concluded a contract for the supply and installation of 71 wind turbines of type Siemens SWT-7.0-154 including the corresponding monopile turbine foundations. This is the first ever order in the German offshore market to combine the supply and installation of foundations and wind turbines in one contract. The award of this contract to Siemens means that all of the supply contracts for the main infrastructure work for EnBW Hohe See have now been concluded. Contracts were already concluded a few weeks ago with VBMS GmbH (Volker Wessels Boskalis Marine Solutions GmbH, Wilhelmshaven) for the array cabling at the wind farm and with a consortium consisting of Cofely Fabricom NV, Iemants NV and CG Holdings Belgium NV Systems Division for the offshore substation.

The contracts will run in two phases: The design phase, which started at the same time the contract was signed and will take around one year, comprises the precise calculations for the foundation structures of the wind turbines, the layout of the array cabling and the detailed static calculations and technical equipment specifications for the substation, as well as obtaining the required certification and official approval. EnBW anticipates total costs in the low three-digit million euro range for the design phase.

Once complete, this will then be followed by the execution phase that comprises the actual construction of the project including the manufacture, installation and commissioning of the offshore wind farm. The execution phase is still subject to a final decision by EnBW on whether to proceed with the construction and investment in the Hohe See offshore wind farm. It is anticipated that this decision will be taken at the end of 2016. By this point in time, EnBW is also planning to have chosen co-investors for the acquisition of up to 49.9 percent of the shares in EnBW Hohe See as part of a structured participation model. The process for approaching interested parties on the market about this project has already begun.

“We want to expand renewable energies to make them a main pillar of our business by 2020. Although offshore wind energy is already making an important contribution today, we nevertheless want to significantly expand it even further. In the shape of EnBW Hohe See, our third and to date largest offshore project is now starting to take an increasingly tangible form. We are highly committed to rigorously pushing forward with the necessary preparation work in the run up to the final decision on the investment. In this regard, we have once again taken an important step forward by awarding the contracts for the main infrastructure work", said Dr. Hans-Josef Zimmer, Chief Technical Officer of EnBW.

“We are delighted that EnBW has selected us for the Hohe See offshore wind farm. The range of services offered by Siemens for this project was expanded to not only include our direct drive seven megawatt wind turbines but also the foundations, the associated transition pieces and the installation ships for both the foundations and turbines. We are pleased to be able to offer our customers such a comprehensive and optimised solution. It represents an important step in further reducing the cost of offshore wind energy”, said Michael Hannibal, CEO Offshore of the Siemens Wind Power and Renewables Division.

After the successful realisation and commissioning of the two offshore wind farms EnBW Baltic 1 (48 megawatts) and EnBW Baltic 2 (288 megawatts), EnBW is now pushing forward with its third and even larger wind farm in the German North Sea. EnBW Hohe See is located in the so-called "exclusive economic zone" around 90 kilometres north of Borkum and 100 kilometres northwest of Helgoland covering an area of 42 square kilometres. The wind farm will have an output of 497 megawatts and is expected to generate around 2000 gigawatt hours of electricity for around 560,000 households and thus save around 1.5 million tonnes of CO₂ .per year. EnBW has a total of more than 1,600 megawatts of approved offshore capacity in the German North Sea within its project pipeline, including the Albatros (around 400 megawatts), Hohe See (around 500 megawatts) and He Dreiht (around 700 megawatts) wind farms.

Facts and figures

Wind turbines:
Rotor diameter 154 metres (in comparison: twice as long as the A 380), area covered by the rotors around 18,630 m2 (corresponds to about 2.6 football pitches), hub height 105 metres, total height 182 metres (in comparison: height of Cologne Cathedral 157 metres). Total weight (tower and nacelle including rotorblades): 755 tonnes.

Foundations:
Monopile approx. 70 metres in length, transition pieces approx. 30 metres in length, total weight approx. 1,500 tonnes.

Substation

• Contract awarded to a consortium consisting of Cofely Fabricom NV, Iemants NV and CG Holdings Belgium NV Systems
• Division.Semi-open topside steel structure on a jacket foundation with rammed piles
• Weight of foundation approx. 3,100 tonnes and topside (equipped) approx. 3,800 tonnes

Array cabling

• Contract awarded to VBMS GmbH (Volker Wessels Boskalis Marine Solutions GmbH, Wilhelmshaven)
• Total length of array cabling at the wind farm approx. 100 kilometres