At an event held today, E.ON, with the support of WindEnergy Network and Invest in MV, has put together a supplier agreement that will enable companies from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to participate in the construction and operation of the Arkona offshore wind farm.
More than 170 representatives of companies in the area are using the platform to network with E.ON and principal contractors, the developer said.
“It’s part of E.ON’s philosophy to involve local residents in major projects while also strengthening the regional economy,” emphasized E.ON’s head of renewable energy projects, Sven Utermöhlen . “Apart from that, we are pursuing ambitious goals aimed at producing renewable energy and in particular offshore wind energy at as low a cost to our customers as possible. We are happy to see companies in the area apply their ideas and know-how to a major project like Arkona.”
Christian Pegel , Minister for Energy, Infrastructure and State Development in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, who served as sponsor for the event said: “Events like this clearly illustrate that expanding wind generation involves more than value creation; it means creating real jobs.”
The base of operations for the construction and eventual operation of Arkona will be the Mukran port (previously the ferry harbor at Sassnitz) on the island of Rügen. During the construction phase at sea, set to begin in 2017, up to 400 employees from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will be involved in building the wind farm. For subsequent operation, up to 50 high-skilled jobs will be created in Sassnitz over a period of 25 years in the fields of operations management, administration and maintenance along with an additional 100 indirect jobs in external services.
The Arkona Project is located 35 kilometers northeast of the island of Rügen. The wind farm has a capacity of 385MW and is calculated to provide 400,000 households with renewable energy. Arkona will feature 60 Siemens 6MW turbines, sitting atop monopile foundations installed in water depths ranging from 23 to 37 meters.
The Arkona wind farm, worth more than EUR 1.2 billion, is scheduled to be fully operational in 2019.
The Norwegian energy group Statoil will be a project partner from the start, with a 50 percent share. E.ON will be responsible for construction and operation of the wind farm.