14 DAY TRIAL // Swedish energy company Vattenfall, has partnered with Germany's largest municipal utility to build a huge offshore wing farm in the North Sea, of a value of over 1 billion euros, by 2014.
The wind farm is called DanTysk and it will contain 80 giant wind turbines supplied by Siemens, spaced out over an area of nearly 70 square kilometers, in water up to 30 meters deep.
The preparations for the project, who is 70 kilometers west of the German island of Sylt, are in progress: the first supplier contracts are signed, and negotiations focus now on the foundational construction and the laying of the cable, Vattenfall said.
The construction should begin in 2012 and be finished by early 2014.
This giant wing farm should produce nearly 1,320 gigawatt-hours of electricity per year, which is roughly enough electricity to supply 500,000 homes, with an average use of 2,500 kilowatt-hours per home, according to the Swedish company.
Munich's subway and tram system will benefit from this wind farm , as well as thousands of German households.
The Swedish company Vattenfall owns 51% interest in the project, and it will build and maintain the offshore wind farm.
Stadtwerke Munchen, which is the name of Germany's largest municipal utility, has invested in a 49 percent share.
Kurt Mühlhäuser, Stadtwerke Munchen CEO, said in a statement that “the city of Munich needs strong and reliable partners like Vattenfall to accomplish its overall mission, that Munich by 2025 will be supplied purely with renewable energy from its own generation plants.”
Øystein Løseth, Vattenfall’s CEO, said that “Vattenfall keeps investing in renewable energy for long-term reduction of our CO2 emissions.
“Less than a month ago we inaugurated ‘Thanet’, the world’s largest offshore wind farm to date, off the coast of England.
“With DanTysk, we are continuing our engagement in Germany that we successfully began with our partners in the construction of Alpha Ventus, Germany’s first offshore wind farm.
“We are delighted that we will be implementing the DanTysk project together with Stadtwerke München as a major partner,” he added.