Greentech Lead Europe: Strabag SE (STR), a builder in
Central Europe, is planning to invest $396 million to set up a factory in
Germany to make foundations for offshore wind turbines and the vessels needed
to install them.
Strabag, based in Vienna, is planning to make 80
foundations a year at the site in Cuxhaven.
The plant is aimed at servicing the German market. The
plant will cost more than 100 million euros and produce enough foundations for
one wind farm a year, with the rest of the investment going toward ships,
according to a report in Bloomberg.
Strabag’s German investments follow proposals by the
country to build 10 gigawatts of turbines at sea by 2020, up from about 200
megawatts now. Germany’s program may require about 2,000 turbines and their
foundations, which will sit in waters 40 meters (130 feet) to 50 meters deep.
The company is also studying the U.K. offshore wind market, according to Gerald
Zangl, managing director at the Strabag Offshore Wind.
Strabag won approval to use its gravity foundations at
its 50 MW Albatros 1 project in the North Sea. It’s the first time the Federal
Maritime and Hydrographic Agency, known as BSH, approved constructions in
concrete instead of steel for use in deeper waters.
Albatros 1 will use 10 turbines, each with a 5-megawatt
capacity, made by XEMC Darwind BV, the Dutch turbine making unit of China-based
Xiangtan Electric Manufacturing Co. Ltd. Albatros 1 is part of the 79-turbine
Albatros offshore project. Windkraft Fit GmbH, a unit of Strabag, acquired the
rights from Northern Energy OWP Albatros GmbH to install the 10 units.