Danish energy giant Dong Energy has inaugurated its Gode Wind 1 and 2 offshore wind farms located in the German North Sea.
These two wind farms generate about 582MW of clean electricity from 97 turbines supplied by Siemens.
The wind farms are expected to meet the power needs of about 600,000 German households per year.
While Dong Energy owns 50% of stake in the wind farms, the infrastructure fund Global Infrastructure Partners holds the remaining stake in Gode Wind 1. Talanx also holds an indirect interest in the wind farm.
In the second wind farm, four Danish pension funds, including PKA and Industriens Pension, have a total holding of 50%.
Planning for the two wind farms started after the final investment decision was taken in 2013. And in 2015, construction work for both the wind farms had started. These two wind farms can help Germany in significantly reducing carbon emissions and in achieving its objective of installing 6.5GW of offshore energy by 2020.
The wind farms were inaugurated from the Danish Embassy in Berlin. Participants included Danish Deputy Secretary of State, Kristoffer Böttzauw, Lower Saxony's Minister of Economic Affairs Olaf Lies and DONG Energy's Executive Committee member and Wind Power CEO Samuel Leupold.
Samuel Leupold said: "We're proud to officially inaugurate our latest German offshore wind farms today. The wind turbines at Gode Wind 1 and 2 are already generating clean power off the coast of Norddeich, and our next German offshore wind farm, Borkum Riffgrund 2, is well underway.
“These large-scale projects are testament that offshore wind has become a reliable, predictable and cost effective technology which will contribute significantly to Germany's energy transition."
Image: Dong Energy inaugurates 582MW Gode 1 and 2 offshore wind farms. Photo: Courtesy of DONG Energy A/S.