ZoomSome 1,000 megawatts of windpower on the high seas

Located about 40 kilometres north of the North Sea island Juist, RWE Innogy develops one of the largest offshore wind sites worldwide. The site is divided into three wind farms Innogy Nordsee 1 (54 turbines), Innogy Nordsee 2 (48 turbines) and Innogy Nordsee 3 (60 turbines). In April Innogy received the permit for the construction of the Innogy Nordsee 1 offshore wind farm granted by the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency.

Together with the wind farms Innogy Nordsee 2 and Innogy Nordsee 3, some 162 wind turbines with a capacity of approx. 1,000 megawatts (MW) are to be erected there on an area of some 100 square kilometres in the next few years.

At the end of 2008, RWE Innogy had acquired the rights for the Innogy Nordsee 1 project from the project development company ENOVA. The tendering process for the key components of the first development stage, such as turbines, foundations, cables and substation, was started in autumn 2011 and is still ongoing. The plans provide the erection of multi-megawatt systems of the 6 MW class on steel lattice foundations (jackets) at a water depth ranging between 26 and 34 metres.

Subject to the grid connection issue and the final investment decisions, the plans provide the start of construction for the first development stage in spring 2014. The total investment for all stages is estimated at some € 3 billion.