Greentech Lead Europe: WindMW, a joint-venture of
Blackstone and Windland Energieerzeugungs GmbH, has started the offshore
construction on its 288 MW Offshore Wind Farm, Meerwind Sud Ost. The project
will install 80 of Siemens’ SWT-3.6-120 wind turbines with a capacity of 3.6 MW
and a rotor diameter of 120 meters each.
Meerwind is the first German offshore
wind farm to complete its financing as part of the innovative KfW
offshore wind program. The wind farm will be constructed approximately 50 km
off the German coast in the North Sea. The project is expected to generate enough
clean energy to power approximately 360,000 German households and to offset one
million tons of carbon emissions per year.
WindMW has been working closely with suppliers and
construction contractors including Siemens, Seajacks, Seaway Heavy Lift, and
AMBAU. AMBAU is the contractor for the foundation and manufacturing monopiles
for the site.
“We are pleased to commence construction on this exciting
project and we thank our suppliers and their hardworking teams for adhering to
the highest quality standards and for helping ensure that this project stayed
on schedule. There is much work still to be done during the offshore
installation but we are on track to begin delivering clean power to the public
grid next year,” Jens Assheuer, CEO of WindMW.
The construction of various vessels and materials will
have employed approximately 2,500 people in Germany and the offshore
construction phase will have employed more than 600 people through Siemens,
Seajacks, Seaway Heavy Lift, and WindMW.
Boskalis on behalf of Seajacks will work to prepare the
seabed on the initial stage of the offshore construction. The installation of
the 80 monopile foundations is scheduled to begin in September of this year.
Seajacks will install the monopole with the newly built jackup vessel
“Zaratan”. Following the installation of the monopiles, scour protection will
be placed around the foundations.
The Wind Turbines will be installed over an area of 42
square kilometers and at water depths from 22 to 26 meters. The installation
and commissioning of the 80 Siemens’ WTGs is scheduled to in early 2013. All
turbines will be connected to a transformer platform to which the grid
connection will be installed.