The German wind farm developer and operator wpd has won the Elektrizitätswerk der Stadt Zürich (ewz) as further partner for the Butendiek offshore wind farm. The parties today announced that the Swiss company has acquired a share of the wpd project in the German North Sea. The other investors – besides wpd – are Marguerite Fund, Siemens Project Ventures (SPV), Industriens Pensionsforsikring (IP), Pensionskassernes Administration (PKA) and CDC Infrastructure (Caisse des Dépôts group).
“The ewz participation is a further favorable signal for the offshore wind sector in Germany. We are glad that ewz shall contribute its know-how as energy supplier and we regard this commitment as a further step in the successful implementation of the wpd project,” says wpd CEO Dr. Gernot Blanke. For ewz, the participation in the Butendiek wind farm is a means to amend and diversify its previous commitment in wind turbine generators in Switzerland and abroad.
wpd has developed the Butendiek project and is responsible for the project management in the construction as well as in the operation phase. Work in the offshore construction area shall begin in March 2014. In the autumn of 2014, the first wind turbine generators are planned to be installed and taken into operation successively. Completion of the works is planned for the summer of 2015. The wpd Butendiek offshore wind farm shall supply some 370,000 households with renewable energy.
Butendiek Key Facts:
- 80 turbines with a combined capacity of 288 MW
- Situated in the German North Sea, some 32 km to the west of the Island of Sylt
- Shallow depths (17 – 22 meters) and favorable ground conditions
- Cooperation with renowned suppliers: Siemens (Siemens SWT 3.6-120 turbines), Ballast Nedam (monopiles), Visser Smit (internal park cabling), Fabricom/GdF Suez (offshore substation)
- Grid connection via the SylWin Cluster
- Commissioning: Successive commissioning following installation of turbines as of autumn of 2014; completion of Butendiek OWP in June 2015
- Power output: Some 1,290 GW/a, equaling supply to some 370,000 households
- Total invest: 1.3 Billion Euros
About wpd
wpd is a developer and operator of wind farms, being active in 20 countries around the world. The wpd group has implemented wind farms with some 1,500 turbines and an output of 2.5 GW and is currently planning other projects with a total of 6.7 GW onshore worldwide. With a pipeline of 10 GW offshore in Germany, France, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Italy, wpd is among Europe’s leading developers and builders of offshoe wind farms, being partner to renowned institutions in the sector of industry and financing.
