Planning permission granted for Riffgat offshore wind farm (Germany)

EWE Board of Management member Dr. Neuber: “An important milestone for a cutting-edge project”

The plans for the Riffgat offshore wind farm have taken a further significant step forwards. The trade supervisory authority in Oldenburg granted planning permission today for this major project to be realised by the Oldenburg-based energy service provider EWE and its partner the East Frisian ENOVA Group. According to the current plan, the deep-water work for the more than 100 megawatt (MW) wind farm is due to begin next year.

“Obtaining planning permission is a further vital milestone for this cutting-edge project,” confirms Dr. Thomas Neuber, Board of Management member for trading and production at EWE ENERGIE AG. The company has already gathered valuable experience in offshore power generation with its alpha ventus wind farm, which was designed as a testing field. Now EWE intends to advance offshore technology another notch with the Riffgat project and to make a decisive impact on the energy supply of the future in northwest Germany. “As a wind power pioneer, we continue to count on the expansion of renewable energies. By building the Riffgat offshore wind farm we are making a valuable contribution to a sustainable energy supply in the region,” underlines Neuber.

The Riffgat offshore wind farm is to be built in the German North Sea, some 15 kilometres to the north-west of Borkum, an East Frisian island. Thirty wind turbines, each with a capacity of 3.6 MW, are to provide power for around 100,000 households from the end of 2012. Following on from alpha ventus – the first German wind farm on the high seas – Riffgat is EWE’s second offshore project.

In building and operating Riffgat, EWE and ENOVA want to achieve a new level of quality in the collaboration between the companies along the value chain. This is expected to yield new findings that will help wind energy plants to generate electricity at costs similar to conventional sources and to play an active role in the energy supply system.

[mappress]

Source: ewe, October 01, 2010