First Wikinger Turbine All Done

The first of 70 Adwen 5MW turbines has been successfully installed at the Wikinger offshore wind farm, Iberdrola’s 350MW project in the German Baltic Sea.

Located off the north east coast of Rugen Island, the 5MW Adwen machines, known locally as WK16, are currently being installed by Fred Olsen’s jack-up vessel Brave Tern.

The turbine components are loaded out from Mukran port in Sassnitz in sets of three, including the pre-assembled 135m diameter rotor, before installation at the site which is expected to take one week per set.

Brave Tern loading turbine components at the Mukran port. Source: ScottishPower

The installation of all 70 jacket foundations at the site was completed on 8 January and the array cable installation on 15 January.

Jürgen Blume, Head of Iberdrola in Germany said: “We are delighted to reach yet another key stage of Wikinger’s construction programme which is testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire project team. Our Wikinger project is progressing well, and we are on target with our plans for full export at the site later this year.”

Wikinger is Iberdrola’s first offshore wind project in Germany and follows the successful construction and commissioning of the company’s first offshore wind farm in 2014 – West of Duddon Sands in the Irish Sea.

The EUR 1.4 billion Wikinger wind farm is scheduled to be operational by the end of this year.