Iberdrola Breaks Ground for Wikinger O&M Hub

The construction of the operations building for the 350MW Wikinger offshore wind farm started with a ground-breaking ceremony at the port of Sassnitz-Mukran on Wednesday, 18 May 2016.

The Rostock branch of construction company Goldbeck will erect the operations building, which has two storeys, as well as the attached warehouse at berth no. 1 of the port.

Goldbeck is responsible for the design, planning and construction of the new building, which includes control, common and conference rooms as well as sanitary facilities. The warehouse will house smaller spare parts for maintenance and repair services. The building itself will be used for the daily surveillance of the wind farm.

Juergen Blume, Managing Director of Iberdrola Renovables Deutschland GmbH, said: “After receiving the final official authorisations last week, we have already started construction today. It is an important step in order to be able to supply 350,000 households with clean energy from next year onwards.”

Located in the Baltic Sea, approximately 75 km from the mainland close to the island of Rügen, Wikinger is in the northern part of an area known as Westlich Adlergrund that the German authorities have designated as a Priority Offshore Development Area.

Iberdrola started offshore construction works at the site in March 2016. The first piles for the foundations were already installed by the installation vessel GIANT 7, mobilised from Rostock.

The installation of the 70 5MW Adwen turbines, which are currently being produced in Bremerhaven and Stade, will follow in early 2017.