RWE’s Swedish offshore wind farm Kårehamn was commissioned in October 2013. Located in the Baltic Sea, 7 kilometres off the Swedish coast near the Island of Öland, 16 turbines with an installed capacity of 48 megawatts (MW) have been reliably generating green electricity for ten years. The turbines with a hub height of 80 metres and a capacity of 3 MW each are installed on gravity based foundations in water depths of up to 20.5 metres. The wind farm is operated and maintained by RWE from its operations base in the harbour of Kårehamn at the Island of Öland.
Matilda Machacek, Vice President of Offshore Development Nordics at RWE Offshore Wind: “Happy anniversary Kårehamn, our first Swedish offshore project. Thanks to our dedicated Operations & Maintenance team and the excellent offshore wind conditions, the 16 turbines are reliably generating enough green electricity to supply approximately 34,000 Swedish homes or two third of the Island of Ölands consumption annually – and this will also continue for the next decade. Thanks to the wind farm the old fishing harbor of Karehamn has been revitalized. Based on our great experience at Kårehamn we plan to build more offshore wind farms for Sweden to support the country’s climate targets.”
If Sweden is keen to achieve its target of being net-zero by 2045, the development of new offshore wind farms is crucial, and will also help Swedish industry on its green journey towards electrification.
RWE – an experienced offshore player
RWE, a leading offshore player, operates 19 offshore wind farms with a pro-rata installed capacity of about 3.3 gigawatts (GW) in five countries. Two offshore wind farms, Thor (1.1 GW) in Denmark and Sofia (1.4 GW) in the UK, are under construction, and further projects are in development worldwide. RWE’s experience in deploying seabed-fixed offshore wind turbines, combined with its in-house engineering expertise and global approach, means that the company is particularly well placed to also become a market leader in floating wind and unlock the large-scale potential of deep waters around the world.
Picture material for media use is available at the RWE Media Centre (credit: RWE).