Danish wind turbine maker Vestas has won a contract to deliver 50 wind turbines for Spanish renewable energy firm Iberdrola's Baltic Eagle offshore wind project being developed off the island of Rügen, in German waters of the Baltic Sea.
The companies have also signed a contract for the service and maintenance of the new turbines. Vestas will deliver 50 units of the offshore wind turbine V174-9.5 MW.
With 476,25 megawatt (MW) installed capacity and spanning a 40 km2 area, Baltic Eagle is the second major offshore initiative undertaken by the company in Germany, one of its key strategic markets, following the successful installation of 350-MW Wikinger wind farm in 2017.
Iberdrola is planning to further increase its installed offshore wind capacity in Germany to more than 1,1 GW by the end of 2026.
Located some 75km off the coast, Baltic Eagle will be connected to the Lubmin substation through 2 new HV cables to be laid by 50Hertz.
"Together with Wikinger, it will give rise to the largest offshore wind complex in the Baltic Sea, with over 826 MW joint installed capacity and €2.5 billion total investment. While boosting the company's renewables Baltic Sea Hub will act as a center for offshore and onshore services, as well as providing local content for Iberdrola's projects in Germany and the Baltic coastal countries," Iberdrola said.
The complex, which will be operated from the port of Mukran on the island of Rügen, will produce enough energy to meet 45% of the total electricity consumption of the state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania and it will displace 1.65 million tons of CO2 emissions per year, thus contributing to Germany's emission reduction targets.
Iris Stempfle, Iberdrola's country manager in Germany, said: “There will be synergy effects in our projects, especially through joint maintenance campaigns and the use of the excellent infrastructure in Sassnitz. Investment costs are falling due to technical advancements along the entire value chain and the strong know-how of the offshore industry, which has matured over the past few years. Offshore wind energy will be an important component of an economically reasonable energy transition. However, we need stable framework conditions to plan and deliver our investments.”
"Vestas is delighted to be bringing our V174 offshore turbine technology to the European market through the Baltic Eagle project," said Johnny Thomsen, GSVP of Global Offshore Commercial at Vestas. "Baltic Eagle will be the largest project Vestas has installed offshore in Germany, once completed in 2024. We're pleased to be beginning our offshore partnership with Iberdrola on this significant project for Germany."