DONG, LEGO Build First German Windfarm

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Europe's leading developer of offshore windfarms, DONG Energy A/S (Fredericia, Denmark), and iconic toy company LEGO (Billund, Denmark) have officially commissioned the Borkum Riffgrund I project in the German North Sea.

The 312-megawatt (MW) windfarm is the first in Germany for the Danish energy company. Located 55 kilometers (km) from the northwestern coast of Germany, it is capable of producing enough power for about 320,000 households. The project cost just more than $1.4 billion to construct and uses 78 turbines from engineering company Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) (Munich, Germany), rated at 4 MW each. The opening was officiated by Danish and German government representatives.

"Borkum Riffgrund 1 is our first operational project in Germany, and I'm very satisfied with the fact that we can now harvest the fruits of the investment we have put into this project," said Thomas Thune Andersen, chairman of the board of Directors of DONG Energy A/S. "Our journey in Germany is far from over. We are currently building another two offshore wind projects, and have a number of other projects in our pipeline that will allow us to demonstrate the skills and competences we have gained, and will allow us to continue to show the trust we have in the German offshore wind market."

KIRKBI A/S (Denmark), which owns 75% of the LEGO Group, owns 31.5% of the windfarm's total production.

Uwe Beckmeyer, Federal Ministry of Economy & Energy, state secretary and deputy minister, said: "The first offshore windfarm installed by DONG Energy in Germany is a great success. 'Borkum Riffgrund 1' is an impressive example of just how fast offshore installations can now be installed. This translates into lower costs and is good news for consumers."

Denmark Minister for Energy, Utilities and Climate Lars Chr. Lilleholt, added: "Germany is a key trading partner for Denmark. The country has significant political and economic weight and is an extremely important partner for Denmark. This also applies to our good cooperation with Germany in the energy sector which, among other things, I want to promote on this trip. Germany is also Denmark's main export market, which is also the case when it comes to energy technologies."

It has not been plain sailing for DONG to get German offshore projects up and running. The company, along with numerous German energy companies, have encountered severe delays in recent years with the German grid operator, TenneT TSO BV (Arnhem, Netherlands), in getting new projects connected to the electricity national grid. In October 2012, DONG postponed plans to develop the 346-MW Borkum Riffgrund II project, blaming TenneT for not being able to connect the windfarm to the grid on time. For additional information, see October 25, 2012, article - Dong Halts German Offshore Windfarm.

Later that year, the German government set out to reduce the delays in getting offshore windfarms built by introducing a bill that will result in consumers and grid operators being charged more if there are any more serious delays to getting windfarms constructed and connected to the grid. For additional information, see September 3, 2012, article - German Bill to Drive Offshore Projects.

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