Green Light for Borkum II North Sea Windfarm

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Construction of the Trianel Windpark Borkum II (TWB II) offshore windfarm in the German sector of the North Sea has been given the green light following a final investment decision by 20 German and Swiss backers.

The windfarm--formerly known as Borkum West II--is being built by Trianel Energie GmbH (Aachen, Germany), a joint venture owned by a number of German banks and electrical utilities, energy and gas providers, EWE AG (Oldenburg) and most recently a number of Swiss backers. With a generating capacity of 203 megawatts (MW), like its predecessor Trianel West Borkum, the project will be capable of generating enough power for roughly 200,000 homes. The project is expected to cost about 800 million euro ($848 million).

Despite a slow start in the offshore wind sector, Germany has emerged as the strongest market for new projects in recent years. Earlier this year Industrial Info reported that Europe's offshore wind sector attracted a record-breaking 18.2 billion euro ($19.5 billion) in 2016 and that Germany was leading the way. For 2016, installations were concentrated mainly on three countries--Germany (813 MW), the Netherlands (691 MW) and the U.K. (56 MW). For additional information, see January 31, 2017, article--European Offshore Wind Worth $19 Billion in 2016.

"By 2020, 6.5 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power are to be installed in the North Sea and Baltic Sea," said Dr. Jörg Buddenberg, managing director of EWE. "With the Trianel Windpark Borkum II, municipal energy suppliers contribute to the development of the offshore sector."

"The development of offshore wind is an important cornerstone for the success of the "Energiewende" [Germany's energy transition]," added Sven Becker, chief executive officer (CEO) of Trianel GmbH.

Construction of the foundation structures (monopiles) is planned for spring 2018 with commissioning expected by the end of 2019. It will use 32 wind turbines from turbine manufacturer Senvion SE (FWB:RPW) (Hamburg, Germany), each with a rated output of about 6.3 MW. They will be installed in a water depth of 25 to 35 metres. Senvion won the contract towards the end of last year. For additional information, see October 4, 2016, article - Senvion Wins German Offshore Wind Turbine Contract.

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