WindMW GmbH, a joint-venture of Blackstone Energy Partners, Blackstone’s energy-focused private equity business, and Windland Energieerzeugungs GmbH, today announced the completion of Meerwind Süd │Ost, a 288 Megawatt (MW) offshore wind farm located in the German North Sea.
Within the last day, WindMW installed its 80 th and final offshore turbine and completed the installation of Meerwind’s 3,500-tonne offshore converter substation. Construction of Meerwind began in 2012 and was completed on schedule within 18 months.
Jens Assheuer, CEO of WindMW said: “I would like to thank the project’s investors, staff, suppliers and other stakeholders for their significant commitment and support. The completion of the project on schedule and at the highest quality standards is a result of the contributions of all parties involved.”
The 288 MW project will produce enough clean power to service approximately 360,000 households and will help Germany eliminate approximately one million tons of carbon emissions per year. Meerwind was the first German offshore wind project to be fully financed by private investors, was the largest German offshore wind farm to achieve a full financial closing, and was the first to close under Germany’s KfW financing program, which is focused on helping Germany meet its renewable energy targets by providing debt financing to greenfield energy projects.
Sean Klimczak, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone said: “We are very pleased to have reached this important project milestone, bringing Germany one step closer to meeting its green energy targets. Together with our partners, we would like to thank our suppliers and their hard-working teams for their efforts to make our project vision a reality.”
A total of EUR 1.2 billion was invested in the construction of the wind farm Meerwind Süd│Ost, which is situated 23 kilometers north of Helgoland, Germany.
Press release, April 4, 2014; Image: windwm