REpower Secures 150-Megawatt Ormonde Wind Turbine Contract

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--German wind turbine manufacturer REpower Systems AG (ETR:RPW) (Hamburg) has secured a contract to supply all of the wind turbines for the 150-megawatt (MW) Ormonde windfarm in the Irish Sea, 35 kilometres from Barrow-in-Furness on the northwest coast of England.

The contract for 30 of REpower's new 5M turbines was signed with Ormonde Energy Limited, a subsidiary of Swedish power giant, Vattenfall AB (Stockholm). Construction of the windfarm is expected to begin in early 2011, and the deal represents the largest U.K. offshore wind turbine contract to date for REpower.

The Ormonde offshore windfarm received approval from the U.K. government in 2007. The 5M turbine nacelles and hubs, which will be manufactured at REpower's offshore manufacturing and logistics center in Bremerhaven, will be installed in water depths ranging from 17 to 30 meters. At the end of 2010 the components, along with rotor blades and tower segments, will then be shipped to the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where pre-assembly is planned. The turbines will be shipped to site using a jack-up platform, where they will be installed on jacket foundations.

Vattenfall has also signed a five-year offshore service and maintenance agreement with REpower for the wind farm.

David Hodkinson, Head of UK Development for Vattenfall Wind Power, said: "Vattenfall bought the Ormonde project last year, and since then we have faced a number of issues including the weakening of Sterling and increased costs. Helped by the U.K. government's announcement to review the support offered to offshore windfarms facing such pressures, our project team has now been able to make this key investment decision for the project, and we are very pleased to have entered into a firm contract with REpower for the project's wind turbines."

"The conclusion of the Ormonde agreement is once again testament to the high level of confidence enjoyed by our offshore technology among customers across the world," added Matthias Schubert, CTO of REpower Systems AG.

With a rated output of 5 MW and a rotor diameter of 126 meters, the 5M is one of the largest and most powerful wind energy turbines in the world. Launched in 2005, it has been a big success for REpower, and there are 17 now in use onshore and offshore, including six at the large Belgian Thornton Bank offshore wind farm.

The rotor consists of three rotor blades, each 61.5 meters in length and covering the area of two soccer fields, while the nacelle is the size of two houses. The 5M's successor, the 6M, was launched earlier this year and is designed so that it can be seamlessly swapped for 5M turbines that have been approved on windfarms still in development. For additional information, see related April 24, 2009, news article -REpower Launches World's Most Powerful Wind Turbine.

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