660t transition pieces loaded out for He Dreiht

He Dreiht – which means ‘it spins’ in German – will generate 960MW of electricity at a cost of €2.4 billion, and owner EnBW says it will be built without funding from the taxpayer.

EnBW, says CEO Georg Stamatelopoulos, intends to spend €40 billion on ‘the energy transition’ by 2030, most of it in Germany.

“We are investing around €13 billion alone in constructing wind farms and solar parks as well as flexibly controllable and hydrogen-ready gas power plants,” he said. 

“After seven years of intensive planning, we are now able to start construction work,” said Peter Heydecker, board member for Sustainable Generation Infrastructure. ”The successful development of a project on this scale once again demonstrates the ability of our offshore team to realise cost-efficient offshore wind projects in Germany and Europe.

“The expansion of offshore wind energy is an important part of our ongoing strategy to considerably increase our installed renewable capacity from 5.7GW to 10 to 11.5GW by 2030.”

More than 60 vessels will be involved in the building of He Dreiht, which is 85km northwest of Borkum and 110km west of Helgoland, EnBW says.

Now that the transition pieces have arrived at nearby Eemshaven, which was done by Belgian engineering and construction firm Smulders, they will be towed out to the site by tugs and be installed with the monopiles this summer.

Thew 15MW turbines are scheduled to be commissioned at the end of 2025.