Substation travels through the North Sea - Baltic Sea Canal

Stuttgart. EnBW Erneuerbare Energien GmbH is scheduled to send its substation for EnBW Wind Farm Baltic 1 on its travels this coming Monday: from Bremerhaven, through the North Sea - Baltic Sea Canal to Wismar. The substation will be equipped further in Wismar and then in Rostock. Suspended on a floating crane, the substation will then be brought to and installed in the construction area. EnBW Baltic 1 will be the first commercial offshore wind farm in the German Baltic Sea and is currently under construction.

Four decks high, fully equipped with electrical technology, crossover points and emergency accommodation – the substation is the heart of the wind farm. The electricity from 21 wind power units flows together here and is transformed from 33 kV to 150 kV. The steel skeleton of the platform weights around 450 tonnes alone – fully equipped, it weighs more than double that (957 tonnes). Weserwind GmbH Offshore Construction, from Georgsmarienhütte, built the substation in Bremerhaven.

According to the current, forecast planning status, the substation should leave Bremerhaven next Monday at 9:30 on a pontoon, a floating high capacity platform, and then enter the North Sea - Baltic Sea Canal covering the distance in around 10-12 hours. During the journey through the North Sea - Baltic Sea Canal, there are numerous opportunities to the see the transportation: starting from the Brunsbüttel lock through to the Holtenau lock.

CAUTION/ info for editors:

We explicitly point out that the times for transport are based on a forecast schedule which is subject to changes depending on the weather conditions. If you want to see the substation during its journey or take photographs, please contact Stefanie Klumpp (Tel.: 0721/ 63- 13040) on Monday morning, 21st June 2010, at 08:30 to find out when the substation will pass by the various stations in the North Sea - Baltic Sea Canal during the course of the day.

With 21 wind power units, EnBW Baltic 1 will have an overall power of around 50 megawatts and will produce electricity for 50,000 households. In total, EnBW is planning on erecting four offshore wind farms in the Baltic and North Seas with a total output of around 1200 megawatts.