German electric utility company EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg has commenced construction works on the 960MW He Dreiht offshore wind farm located in the German North Sea.
Located nearly 85km northwest of Borkum and approximately 110km west of Helgoland, the offshore wind project represents an investment of close to €2.4bn.
Once operational, the He Dreiht project will generate sufficient clean energy to deliver electricity to 1.1 million households. The annual yield of the offshore wind farm, which will feature 64 Vestas V236-15 wind turbines, is expected to be 3.6 billion kWh.
The German offshore wind farm is owned 50.1% by EnBW, while a partner consortium consisting of Allianz Capital Partners, AIP and Norges Bank Investment Management holds the remaining 49.9%.
EnBW secured the contract for the He Dreiht offshore wind project back in 2017 during the first offshore auction held in Germany.
The company plans to install the first foundations in the seabed in the coming few days by utilising the Thialf floating crane.
Besides, the foundation installation works will continue into the summer. The wind turbines and cables are being manufactured simultaneously and are scheduled to be installed and laid in early 2025.
The He Dreiht offshore wind farm is slated to achieve full operations at the end of 2025. Dutch-German grid operator TenneT is anticipated to link the wind farm to the grid by leveraging an offshore converter station and two high-voltage DC export cables.
EnBW CEO Georg Stamatelopoulos said: “EnBW will play its part in further accelerating the energy transition in Germany, which is why it wants to invest a total of 40 billion euros in the energy transition by 2030 – the lion’s share of it in Germany.
“We are investing around 13 billion euros alone in constructing wind farms and solar parks as well as flexibly controllable and hydrogen-ready gas power plants. Our aim is to be a climate-neutral company by 2035.”
