Germany's DanTysk Offshore Windfarm Opens

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--One of Germany's leading North Sea offshore windfarm projects has been commissioned and will generate enough power for approximately 400,000 homes.

The DanTysk windfarm is located 70 kilometers (km) west of the island of Sylt in the German North Sea and has a total generating capacity of 288 megawatts (MW). The official opening of the windfarm was attended by leading government ministers from Germany and Sweden. The windfarm, which cost more than 1 billion euros ($1.12 billion), will play a key role in Germany's plan to boost its growing offshore generation capacity by 6,500 MW by 2020.

Developed by Sweden's state-owned utility, Vattenfall AB, (Stockholm, Sweden) and Germany's Stadtwerke München GmbH (Munich, Germany), the DanTysk windfarm boasts 80 turbines from Siemens Energy (NYSE:SI) (Munich, Germany), each with a capacity of 3.6 MW. Siemens also has been contracted to provide service and maintenance for five years. Last December, Industrial Info reported that DanTysk had supplied its first electricity to the grid. For additional information, see December 9, 2014, article - First Power at German DanTysk Offshore Windfarm.

"Last year, we created the necessary investment security with EEC 2014, which led to a real breakthrough in the development of offshore wind power," said Sigmar Gabriel, Germany's Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, at the inauguration. "By 2030, there should be 15 gigawatts of installed capacity, amounting to a capital investment of several billion euros in windfarms and infrastructure, with high added value for Germany. Together with the DanTysk windfarm, by the end of this year Germany will generate green power from more than 3,000 MW of installed offshore capacity. That is a real boost for the energy transition."

Mikael Damberg, Sweden's Minister for Enterprise and Innovation, said: "The investments in DanTysk and Sandbank reflect Vattenfall's continuing move toward a greater emphasis on renewables. This is in line with the Swedish government's high ambitions in sustainable business, not least for Vattenfall, which should be a leader in the transition to an environmentally sustainable energy system."

In 2014, Vattenfall and Stadtwerke München committed to building their second offshore windfarm in the German North Sea, the 288-MW Sandbank project, located northwest of DanTysk. The firms intend to invest 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) on the project. For additional information, see August 15, 2014, article - Vattenfall Commits to 1.2 Billion-Euro German Offshore Windfarm.

Lars G. Nordström, chairman of the Vattenfall Board of Directors, concluded: "Vattenfall's owner, the Swedish state, has given the company a clear assignment to generate a market rate of return by operating a commercial energy business that enables the company to be among the leaders in developing environmentally sustainable energy production. Today's inauguration of the DanTysk windfarm is a powerful signal for that."

Germany passed the 1-GW milestone for offshore wind capacity at the end of last year. There were 258 offshore wind turbines in operation at the end of December 2014, generating 1,049.2 MW of electricity. More than half of the capacity was added last year. For additional information, see January 21, 2015, article - Germany Breaks 1GW Offshore Wind Barrier.

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