Aker Verdal will supply the steel structure foundations for a total of 48 wind turbines of the 6MW class. The total order value of these components amounts to approximately EUR115m. A subcontract worth about EUR40m has been awarded to Erndtebrucker Eisenwerk in North Rhine-Westphalia. The company will supply the steel tubes for the foundations.
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 EUR100m. 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 22mt and 25mt. Each individual jacket foundation, which is similar to the design of power pylons, will be anchored firmly with piles on its 4ft in the sea bed. Each of these foundations has a total height of approximately 50mt and a total weight of approximately 550 tons. The base of the foundation has a footprint of almost 400sqmt.
RWE Innogy has already awarded the contract for the wind power systems of the 6MW 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.
Apart from the Nordsee Ost wind farm, RWE Innogy is developing the Innogy Nordsee 1 offshore wind farm in German waters.
