OWC to Assess Wind Conditions Offshore Germany

Germany’s Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) has selected Offshore Wind Consultants (OWC) to analyse and assess wind conditions for two future German offshore wind tendering sites.

OWC a subsidiary of AqualisBraemar LOC, has selected a team including Fraunhofer IWES and ProPlanEn, to assess the historic wind potential across the German Exclusive Economic Zone in the North Sea.

OWC will create the wind condition reports for target sites N-6.6 and N-7.2.

The work to be performed is divided into three packages for each of the two suitability zones. The plausibility and consistency checks of the short-term data are followed by corrections for the influence of neighbouring wind farms and establishing a long-term relationship with the historic long-term data.

Additionally, spatial analysis of the wind field will be conducted with detailed reporting on statistical evaluation and description of the meteorological conditions.

According to BSH, the findings on the site N-7.2 will be published by the Federal Network Agency BNetzA within the scope of the site tendering no later than six months before the bid date on 1 September 2022, and for the site N-6.6 no later than six months before the bid date on 1 September 2024.

The study’s outcomes will be utilized by project developers, energy suppliers, and banks in conjunction with the project financing of the offshore wind farms and will be published on the BSH website.

As part of the bid calculation, the bidder needs as detailed information as possible about the wind conditions in the target site to design a wind farm and create a yield forecast on this basis.

BSH plays a central role in the tendering process as it draws up site development plans for the sites to be auctioned. Preliminary investigations are carried out for suitable sites and their results published as part of the tenders.

The German Renewable Energy Sources Act for offshore wind energy has set an adjusted target of 20 GW by 2030 which is to be achieved through tenders in accordance with the Offshore Wind Energy Act.