The Low German name means “It spins” and it couldn’t be more apt. That’s because there will be plenty of spinning going on in the North Sea: The 64 wind turbines with a total output of 960 MW can produce enough electricity to supply the equivalent of 1.1 million households. This mega wind farm will have an output comparable to today’s conventional power plants.
“EnBW has been planning, building and operating offshore wind farms in Germany and Europe for over 15 years. EnBW He Dreiht is our largest offshore project to date and is being built without state funding. It will play a key role in helping us to achieve our goal of significantly increasing installed output from renewable energies from the current figure of 6.6 GW to over 10 GW by 2030,” explains Michael Class, Head of Generation Portfolio Development at EnBW.
“We are honored to partner with EnBW on the He Dreiht project and provide them with our flagship offshore technology,” says Nils de Baar, President Vestas Northern & Central Europe. “With the installation of the first V236-15.0 MW, we have reached an important milestone for both the He Dreiht project and our offshore ramp-up, which helps Germany build a more secure, affordable and sustainable energy system.”
He Dreiht is being built roughly 85 kilometers northwest of Borkum and about 110 kilometers west of Helgoland. More than 500 employees will work on this large construction site in the middle of the sea at peak times. Over 60 ships are involved in the construction of the wind farm.
EnBW’s offshore office in Hamburg is coordinating the major project. The 64 foundations were installed last year. The components were loaded onto the installation vessel “Wind Orca” in the port of Esbjerg in Denmark. After a twelve-hour journey to the construction site at sea, the ship positioned the first turbine on the foundations already installed in the seabed. Work on the internal wind farm cabling is running alongside the installation of the wind turbines.
A partner consortium made up of Allianz Capital Partners, AIP and Norges Bank Investment Management owns 49.9 percent of the shares in He Dreiht.
EnBW’s offshore wind farm portfolio
The total capacity of the current portfolio is around one gigawatt. In the Baltic Sea, EnBW operates the EnBW Baltic 1 and Baltic 2 offshore wind farms. Besides He Dreiht, EnBW’s existing offshore wind farms Hohe See and Albatros are located in the North Sea. In addition, EnBW and bp are developing three wind farms in the UK – Mona, Morgan and Morven – with a total capacity of 5.9 GW.
