Dipl.-Wirt.-Ing. (FH) Willi Balz congratulates PNE WIND AG on the sale of their offshore wind park ‘Gode Wind’ to the Danish DONG Energy.
The chairman of the board of Windreich AG is pleased, that with DONG Energy, the world market leader in the area of offshore wind energy with more than 20 years of offshore experience, values the location ‘German North Sea’ so lucratively, and will invest several billion Euros there in the next few years.
At the same time, the commitment impressively emphasises the value retention of the more than 20 Windreich projects in the German North Sea, with a power output of more than 8.4 GW. With these volumes, the Windreich group sustainably contributes to the energy change in Germany, and in the future can provide almost 20 million people with wind energy CO2 free.
The first three authorised offshore wind parks of the company from Wolfschlugen ‘Global Tech I’, ‘MEG I’ and ‘Deutsche Bucht’ already have consent for connection to the grid, and are therefore right on schedule. In the last year Global Tech I received EUR1,047 billion project funding from 16 banks, with significant involvement from the European investment bank and the KfW [Development Loan Corporation].
Willi Balz provided the necessary EUR 800 billion equity capital through a shareholder structure, with just six renowned South German investors. The construction of GT I started punctually in August 2012. Therefore, the scheduled completion by the end of 2013 is guaranteed. Global Tech I alone will provide 1 million people with affordable and safely generated electricity.
Based on over two years of experience with the test wind park Alpha Ventus, fitted with the same 5-MW AREVA technology, 98% availability and more than 4,500 full capacity hours are predicted. Alpha Ventus, not quite as favourably located for wind as Global Tech I, had only three days in the generally low wind year 2011, where it did not produce any electricity. Therefore, North Sea wind energy has been proven to provide base loads.
Thanks to the subsidiary company WKU AG, Hamburg, Windreich AG is in a position to set up turn key offshore wind projects and hand them over to the client. Thereby, together with leading groups such as AREVA, Alstom, and Hochtief AG, the company realises technically and economically optimum offshore wind turbines on schedule for customers.
The first North Sea project of WKU AG is MEG I-wind park with 80 wind turbines in the 5-MW class. Windreich MEG I also stands out due to the fact that the mains connection will already be laid by TenneT before the start of construction.
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Offshore WIND staff, August 17, 2012; Image: Windreich