REpower Wins Major Onshore Turbine Deal

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The outlook for windfarm development in Germany is looking up following a significant turbine deal between manufacturer REpower Systems AG (ETR:RPW) (Hamburg, Germany) and renewable energy company juwi Group (Bolanden, Germany).

The companies have signed an onshore framework deal for up to 240 of REpower's turbines, most of which will have a rated generating capacity of 3 MW. The combined capacity of the turbines is expected to be about 720 MW and represents REpower's largest-ever onshore turbine deal in Europe. Most of the turbines will be used for German windfarm projects, a sector which is likely to become even more important following the Japanese nuclear disaster and Germany's decision to shut down seven older nuclear power plants for the next three months. For related news, see March 18, 2011, article - Germany to Shut Down Oldest Nuclear Power Stations. As the public and political fallout from the Fukushima Daiichi disaster continues, there is a growing fear that Germany's government may opt to pull back from its recent support for a new prolonged nuclear power programme.

Germany is already Europe's largest proponent of wind energy with an installed capacity of more than 27,000 MW. In February, Dong Energy A/S (Fredericia, Denmark) announced that it was going ahead with the construction of its first offshore windfarm in German waters, the 320-MW Borkum Riffgrund 1 project. For related news, see February 28, 2011, article - Dong Energy Commits to German Offshore Windfarm.

juwi, which has a track record in building wind, solar and geothermal power projects, intends to install 180 turbines in Germany and another 60 at sites throughout Europe, with the main turbines being the REpower 3.4M104 and 3.2M114 with hub heights of between 123 and 143 meters. The timescale for the projects will run between the second half of 2011 and 2014.

"We scored points with the high hub heights of our 3-megawatt turbines in particular, which make it possible for the customer to operate especially profitably in inland locations," said Jens Müller-Nielsen, Managing Director of REpower Systems GmbH.

Dr. Marie-Luise Pörtner, Managing Director of juwi Wind GmbH, added "The framework agreement will allow us to implement the numerous projects that we have planned for Germany and abroad quickly and securely. juwi and REpower successfully undertook their first common projects in 2010".

Juwi has been active in the European solar sector over the past year and at the end of 2010, it announced plans to build up to 60 MW of solar PV farms in the south of England. For related news, see November 24, 2010, article - Juwi Group Plans 60-Megawatt Solar Charge For U.K .

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