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RWE Innogy awards contract for offshore foundations to Aker Verdal
- Contract volume of approx. € 115 million
- Approx. € 40 million placed with company in North Rhine-Westphalia
- Construction of "Nordsee Ost“ offshore wind power plant due to start in 2011
- Grid connection has to be guaranteed upon first power production mid 2012
RWE Innogy and Aker Verdal signed a contract for the supply of foundations for the
"Nordsee Ost" offshore wind farm. Aker Verdal, a subsidiary of the Norwegian construction and
technology group Aker Solutions AS, will supply steel structure foundations (so-called jacket
foundations) for a total of 48 wind turbines of the 6 megawatt class. The first of these
foundations are due to arrive in RWE Innogy's offshore base port at Bremerhaven in autumn
2011. From there, they are to be transported to the deep-sea construction site approx. 33 km
northeast of Helgoland on one of the world's largest construction ships. The total order
value of these components amounts to approximately € 115 million. A subcontract worth about € 40 million has been awarded to Erndtebrücker
Eisenwerk GmbH in North Rhine-Westphalia. The company will supply the steel tubes for the
foundations.
Prof. Dr. Fritz Vahrenholt, Chief Executive Officer of RWE Innogy: "The preparations for the
construction of our first offshore wind farm in Germany are on a good path. At the beginning
of the year, we secured the turbines and last month the required base port at Bremerhaven. We
have done our homework with the contract now signed for the supply of the foundations in
order to be able to start the erection of Nordsee Ost next year. However, we are worried
about the wind farm's pending grid connection. It would be irresponsible if the wind farm
were complete and the grid not available." The local grid operator, Transpower
Stromübertragungs GmbH, a subsidiary of the Dutch company Tennet B.V., is responsible for the
timely connection of the wind farm to the public grid.
At the end of last year, RWE Innogy had already awarded the contract for building offshore
installation ships to a Korean shipyard. The order value for each of these jack-up rigs
totals about € 100 million. The first installation ship is due to be completed in 2011. It
will then be used for the construction of the "Nordsee Ost“ wind farm.
The foundations manufactured by Aker Verdal are to be placed at water depths between 22 and
25 meters. Each individual jacket foundation, which is similar to the design of power
pylons, will be anchored firmly with piles on its four feet in the sea bed. Each of these foundations
has a total height of approx. 50 meters and a total weight of approx. 550 tons. The base of
the foundation has a footprint of almost 400 square meters.
RWE Innogy has already awarded the contract for the wind power systems of the 6 megawatt
class to the turbine manufacturer REpower at Bremerhaven. The first wind turbines are due to
be commissioned as early as mid-2012. The "Nordsee Ost" wind farm is due to be completed in
2013.
More: www.rwe.com
Posted June 18, 2010
Apart from the "Nordsee Ost“ wind farm, RWE Innogy is developing the "Innogy Nordsee 1"
offshore wind farm in German waters. At an installed capacity of approx. 960 megawatts, this
wind power plant is the largest offshore wind farm planned off the German coast. It is to be
built 40 kilometres north of the North Sea island Juist on an area of approx. 150 square
kilometres.
RWE Innogy already operates the offshore wind farms North Hoyle (60 MW) and Rhyl Flats (90
MW) off the northern coast of Wales. The decision to build a third wind power plant off
Wales, Gwynt y Môr (576 MW), has recently been made. Moreover, the company is currently
involved in the construction of the 500 MW wind power plant Greater Gabbard off the
Southeastern coast of England. Other large projects in the United Kingdom, such as Triton
Knoll (1,200 MW), Atlantic Array (1,500 MW), Galloper (500 MW) or Dogger Bank (approx. 9,000
MW) are currently being developed by RWE Innogy alone or with partners. In Belgium, the
company is also involved in the Thornton Bank wind farm, the first stage (30 MW) of which is
already operating commercially. Furthermore, RWE Innogy develops the offshore wind project
Tromp Binnen in the Netherlands.
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