Nordsee Ost is the first project under the framework agreement concluded between REpower and RWE Innogy in February 2009 – one of the biggest in the history of the wind power sector – for the delivery of up to 250 offshore turbines of the type REpower 5M/6M. REpower will supply the nacelles and hubs, which will be manufactured at its offshore production facility in Bremerhaven (Germany), as well as the rotor blades and towers for the project. REpower will also be responsible for the start-up of the wind farm and for servicing.
Nordsee Ost will be co-funded by the European Commission under the EEPR-program and will be situated about 35 km north of the island of Helgoland, at a depth of 22 to 25 metres.
"The framework agreement with REpower gives us the flexibility to change our original plans and to start installation somewhat earlier, before we receive planning permission for our second German North Sea Project, Innogy Nordsee 1,” explains Paul Coffey, Member of the Management Board at RWE Innogy. “We'll be investing about a billion Euros in Nordsee Ost. We've already gathered some positive initial operational experience with the REpower 5M turbines at our Belgian offshore project Thornton Bank."
With a rated capacity of 5 and 6.15 MW, respectively, and a rotor diameter of 126 metres, the REpower 5M and 6M models are among the biggest and most powerful wind turbines in the world. Since 2004, REpower has installed a total of 26 5Ms and 6Ms both onshore and offshore.
"We already showed in 2006, with our first offshore project Beatrice, 25 km off the Scottish coast, that we can set up turbines at a depth of 44 metres. Beatrice is currently the northernmost and deepest offshore wind farm in the world. And quite recently we successfully installed the first German offshore wind farm alpha ventus with six REpower 5M turbines,” says Matthias Schubert, CTO of REpower and head of the company’s off-shore operations. “We have built up the learning curve for our offshore activities very systematically... We are pleased to be realising one of the first major North Sea projects off the German coast for RWE Innogy.”
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