Nordergründe Commissioning Postponed to H2 2017

Commissioning of the Nordergründe offshore wind farm, initially planned for the end of 2016, has been delayed after BVT, the company in charge of the substation, entered insolvency.

Wpd, the developer of the 111MW project in the German part of the North Sea, is planning to complete the installation of the substation and the commissioning of the offshore wind farm in the second half of this year, a spokesperson from the company told Offshore WIND.

The remaining works on the substation are now being carried out by several sub-contractors, with GE/Alstom delivering the HV/MV equipment, Muehlhan doing the coating, and Stahlbau Nord finalising the steel works.

BVT, part of the Heinrich Rönner Group, was sold at the beginning of this month (with retroactive effect as of 1 December 2016), after the District Court of Bremerhaven ordered the provisional insolvency administration for the company in September 2016. Issues related to the order for the Nordergründe substation reportedly led to BVT’s insolvency. Wpd did not comment on this matter.

According to German media, BVT’s office in Bremerhaven has been transferred to German Mechanics and Offshore and the one in Bremen to Stahlbau Nord, the latter implying the company is still involved in the Nordergründe substation works.

At the end of December 2016, MPI Enterprise completed the installation of Senvion 6.2M126 turbines at the Nordergründe offshore wind farm.

The wind farm is deemed the first German offshore project for which the work has been exclusively delivered by German companies.

Offshore WIND Staff