German bank group, ARCADIS, GHF/Ventotec and Vestas plan offshore wind park with new foundation

Environmental compatibility investigation for Baltic Sea wind park "Ventotec east 2" underway. Positive decision received for preliminary building of test range with V80 Offshore.

35 kilometers northeast from the German town of Rügen an offshore wind park "Ventotec East 2" is to be established with an overall capacity of 600 MW. The project initiators, international consulting and engineering company ARCADIS, GHF Society for Trade and Finance Ltd., as well as project developers VENTOTEC GmbH and wind energy equipment manufacturer VESTAS, already succeeded in winning over Deutsche Bank group to participate as a a partner in this project. The international financial services company will take a 50% stake in the project.

On 23 September 2003 a consortium, consisting of Deutsche Bank, GHF/VENTOTEC and ARCADIS submitted the environmental compatibility investigations for "Ventotec East 2" at the Federal Office for Sea-going Vessel Travel and Hydrographics (BSH) in Hamburg. The possible impact on the environment of the wind park is examined now by the authority in the context of the environmental compatibility test (UVP). This is a mandatory regulatory requirement for off-shore installations.

According to managing director Dr. Michael Neumann of ARCADIS this step is an important milestone in the realization of the project. At the same time the consortium communicated that for "Ventotec East 2" a completely new foundation concept will be used. Helmer Stecker, managing director in the segment wind energy with the GHF, stresses the advantages of the new technology: "We can provide our foundation for 50% of the costs of conventional systems due to complete on shore preproduction, thereby reducing on-site building activity significantly. With the help of this concept maintenance and repair for offshore wind installations becomes economically feasible for the first time. The concept was co-developed by VESTAS, ARCADIS and GHF/VENTOTEC and has already been tested in a simulation plant."

Since the foundation is based on completely new technology, the consortium is in a close dialogue with the authorities of the federal state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. This coastal community aims to use the technological know-how developed in this project to position itself as a leader in this field, thereby seeking to use it as a means to further economic growth in the area. The federal state government supports the consortium with the testing of the newly established technology. For the establishment of a test range with a V80 offshore within the 12sm-Zone, the federal state government provided its authorization in the form of a building permit on September 23, 2003.