RWE Innogy has begun the construction of the service station on Heligoland. A two-story building with a warehouse, office space and a workshop will be built on a 3,000 square meter area in the south port of the island.
Nordsee Ost offshore wind farm (295 MW), which is being built 30 kilometers north of Helgoland will be operated from the station over the next 20 years. The service station is expected to be completed in the spring of 2014.
“For the construction of the building we will only use the sustainable materials in order to certify our new building by the German Sustainable Building Council. Thus, we want to give our contribution to preservation of the Heligoland resort,” said Peggy Kleidon, project engineer at RWE Innogy.
The future operating building covers an area of around 1,200 square meters. Half of the area is intended for storage areas and a workshop. The other half of the two-story building includes locker rooms and sanitary facilities as well as offices, lounges and meeting rooms along with a control room.
“Unlike onshore, offshore wind turbines cannot be serviced at any time of day or night. Waves, wind and weather provide our service technicians with completely new tasks,” says Kleidon . “We don’t only need good design and reliable equipment in the form of ships and helicopters, we especially need a safe operating base that is as close to our wind farm as possible- since at sea every mile counts.”
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Offshore WIND staff, July 22, 2013; Image: rwe