Vattenfall and Siemens have signed a contract for the supply and installation of 80 wind turbines for the Sandbank offshore wind farm. Each of the turbines has a nominal capacity of 3.6 megawatts (MW). Construction of the Vattenfall Sandbank project, located 90 kilometres west of the island of Sylt, is expected in 2015.
The signed agreement is also a condition to satisfy the criterion for obtaining the so-called unconditional grid connection commitment by the offshore grid operator Tennet. The regulatory framework for the construction of offshore wind farms in Germany requires that the builder of a wind farm must provide this evidence.
The contract will become effective as soon as Tennet grants unconditional approval for grid connection of Sandbank offshore wind farm and Vattenfall makes the funding decision. Claus Wattendrup, manager of the Sandbank project at Vattenfall , comments: “Vattenfall has already submitted all the necessary documentation to Tennet. We are optimistic about having the confirmation for the grid connection of Sandbank by the end of October this year in our hands. This is an important step to promote the rapid development of the wind farm. “
Currently, the rules for grid connection of offshore wind farms are part of the amendment to the Energy Act. “We need astable environment, which will ensure the grid connection of offshore wind farms in the agreed time frames, otherwise the further expansion of the offshore industry in Germany would be compromised,” said Wattendrup .
Vattenfall operates a total of 41 wind farms in Europe with more than 900 wind turbines, which in 2011 produced an amount of electricity that met the needs of around one million households. The company is currently building new wind farms onshore in Germany, Sweden, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Denmark. With respect to offshore, the construction of the Dan Tysk wind farm off Sylt in the German Bight will start at the end of the year.
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Offshore WIND staff, October 18, 2012; Image: Vattenfall