SCOTLAND’S renewable energy target of 80 per cent by 2020 has been boosted by the arrival of a major wind farm developer. PNE WIND UK Limited is planning to invest intensively in Britain over the next three years. The company has recently acquired offices in Edinburgh city centre which was officially opened by Anne MacColl, the new chief executive of Scottish Development International. PNE WIND UK Limited is a subsidiary of PNE Wind AG who has built up a portfolio of onshore and offshore wind farms since 1995 in Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Turkey, Canada, UK and the United States. It was the Scottish Government’s ambitious targets for renewable electricity which convinced PNE to establish offices north of the border. They have hit the ground running with four sites already being identified in Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, Grampian and the Scottish Borders for wind farm potential as they strive to meet their own target of providing 300 megawatts of sustainable energy. Jan Koschinski, PNE WIND’s executive director, said: “The best wind resources are in Scotland compared to the rest of the UK and along with the aggressive targets set by the Scottish Government, it made sense to establish a base here. We are a one-stop shop when it comes to building wind farms from planning to erecting the turbines and we like being close to our sites. In addition, Edinburgh has good communication links with our headquarters in northern Germany with a direct flight and a skilled workforce existing in the Central belt which we can call upon.” George Mager, PNE WIND’s UK director with 25 years experience in the oil and gas industry before moving into renewables, added: “This is a long term investment by the company. With its long established expertise on the international scene, this is a natural progression to invest in the potential Scotland has to offer. We are delighted Anne MacColl from Scottish Development International has opened our new offices in Edinburgh as they have been very supportive in helping us set up here.” Company profile PNE WIND AG with its headquarters in Cuxhaven develops and implements wind farm projects on land (onshore) and at high sea (offshore). Its core competence is the development, planning, implementation and financing of wind farms and their operation or sale including subsequent service. So far, the company has set up 97 wind farms with 563 wind energy systems and a total nominal output of 804 MW. Alongside its business activities in the established German home market, PNE WIND AG is also increasingly investing in dynamic growth markets and has subsidiaries and representations via joint ventures in Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, the UK, USA and Canada. Wind farm projects with a nominal output of about 3,450 MW are currently being processed in these countries and are to be implemented in the medium term. In Germany (onshore) currently wind farm projects with a nominal output of more than 800 MW are being processed. Furthermore, PNE WIND AG develops offshore wind farm projects, three of which have already been approved in German waters. Entering promising foreign markets is also being examined for the offshore area.
( pnewind) [mappress] Source: pnewind, February 14, 2011