Ruukki has agreed with the Norwegian company Aker Verdal AS on the delivery of steel structures for the Nordsee Ost wind farm project to be built offshore from Germany in the North Sea. Steel structure deliveries for the jacket foundations of offshore wind turbines are a new entry for Ruukki.
Offshore wind turbine towers are anchored to the sea bed by huge piles and massive 12-metre welded structures are used to fasten the wind turbine towers to their jacket foundations. Ruukki’s delivery includes a total of 240 of these individual structures to anchor the towers and join the structures together.
Manufacture of the steel structures for offshore wind turbines in the North Sea will begin in Ruukki’s plant in Kalajoki, Finland in the fourth quarter of this year. Deliveries will last for about a year, and the project will employ about one hundred people at the Kalajoki plant.
“We have long worked together with Ruukki in the offshore industry. Ruukki’s ability to provide total delivery ranging from raw material to ready components enables more efficient project supply chain management,” says a spokesperson from Aker Verdal about the cooperation with Ruukki.
“The wind power industry is one of our strategic focus areas. Steel structures for offshore wind turbines broaden our range of solutions for the wind power industry and strengthen our position as an expert in the offshore industry,” says Tommi Matomäki, President, Ruukki Engineering.
RWE Innogy’s Nordsee Ost wind farm will cover an area of around 36 square kilometres off the German coast about 35 kilometres to the northeast of Helgoland. The sea depth in the area is in the range of 22-25 metres. The wind farm will be commissioned in 2013. When completed, the wind farm will produce approximately 1.1 terawatt-hours of power per year, equivalent to the supply of more than 310,000 households.
For further information, please contact: Tommi Matomäki, President, Ruukki Engineering, tel. +358 20 59 28809
Rautaruukki supplies metal-based components, systems and integrated systems to the construction and engineering industries. The company has a wide selection of metal products and services. Rautaruukki has operations in 27 countries and employs around 11,500 people. Net sales in 2009 were approximately EUR 2.0 billion. The company’s share is quoted on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki (Rautaruukki Oyj: RTRKS). The Corporation uses the marketing name Ruukki.
