Iberdrola Awards German Offshore Wind Turbine Contract

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- Spain's Iberdrola Renovables S.A. (Valencia, Spain) has chosen Areva SA (EPA:CEI) (Paris, France) as its preferred wind turbine supplier for the 400-megawatt (MW) Wikinger offshore windfarm project in Germany.

Wikinger is the first German offshore project for the Spanish renewable energy giant and represents the second offshore collaboration with Areva in recent times. Areva has been contracted to supply its M5000 5 MW turbine for the Wikinger project, which lies 35 kilometres (km) off the German Baltic Sea coast and, when completed, will be capable of generating enough electricity for approximately 350,000 households. Work is expected to start in 2015 with the first power expected to be exported to the German grid in 2016 before full commissioning the following year.

Areva pipped rival Gamesa Corporation S.A. (MCE:GAM) (Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain) to the Wikinger deal, where the Spanish company had hoped to win its first large-scale offshore contract for its G11X 5MW turbine, which is still in development.

Areva notched up its first big win with Iberdrola last year when an Iberdrola-led consortium secured the rights for one of France's first offshore wind projects in Saint-Brieuc, located in Côte d'Armor (northern Brittany), with a potential maximum capacity of 500 MW.

"We are honoured by Iberdrola's renewed confidence in Areva's offshore wind technology which further comforts the group's strong ambitions in Europe," said Luc Oursel, CEO of Areva. "This new success further demonstrates the credibility of our long term growth strategy and our long term commitment towards renewable energies."

Wikinger was originally expected to use floating wind turbines before Iberdrola acquired the project and resubmitted for permission to use permanent foundations and larger turbines.

Areva is aiming to have more than 120 of its offshore wind turbines installed in the North Sea by next year. The company has big plans for the European offshore market. In November, Areva signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond, for the creation of a new manufacturing plant for wind turbines in east Scotland. Areva said the new plant will be designed to build the company's 5 MW offshore wind turbines and blades for projects in France, the U.K. and Belgium. For additional information, see November 21, 2012, article - Areva Picks Scotland for Offshore Turbine Plant.

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