Milestone for Germany’s largest offshore wind farm under construction: First “EnBW He Dreiht” wind turbine is now in place

Karlsruhe/Hamburg. The first wind turbine for “EnBW He Dreiht”, Germany’s largest offshore wind farm currently under construction, has been in place since yesterday, marking an important milestone in the construction phase. He Dreiht is a world premiere in technical terms because the largest 15 MW wind turbine available on the market from Vestas will be used for the first time. A single rotation of the rotor is enough to supply four households with electricity for a day.

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 honoured 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.

About EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG
With a workforce of around 30,000 employees, EnBW is one of the largest energy supply companies in Germany and Europe. It supplies energy to around 5.5 million customers and is active across all stages of the value chain, from generation and trading to grid operation and the sale of electricity, heating and gas. In the course of the company’s transformation from a traditional energy provider to a sustainable infrastructure group, the expansion of renewable energy sources and of the distribution and transportation grids for electricity, gas and hydrogen are cornerstones of EnBW’s growth strategy and the focus of its investment spending. By 2030, EnBW plans gross investments of at least 40 billion euros. Renewables are set to account for around 80 percent of EnBW’s generation portfolio by then. The aim is to phase out coal by the end of 2028. These are key milestones on the company’s way to achieving climate neutrality by 2035. www.enbw.com

About Vestas
Vestas is the energy industry’s global partner on sustainable energy solutions. We design, manufacture, install, and service onshore and offshore wind turbines across the globe, and with more than 189 GW of wind turbines in 88 countries, we have installed more wind power than anyone else. Through our industry-leading smart data capabilities and unparalleled more than 155 GW of wind turbines under service, we use data to interpret, forecast, and exploit wind resources and deliver best-in-class wind power solutions. Together with our customers, Vestas’ more than 35,000 employees are bringing the world sustainable energy solutions to power a bright future.
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Yannick Kramm
External Communications Specialist, Vestas Northern & Central Europe 
E-mail: yankr@vestas.com
Phone: +44 (0)77 9528 4694