EnBW gets OK for first German offshore wind auction for 900MW farm
Staff Writer |
EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg has been successful against a field of renowned bidders in the first offshore auction in Germany with the acceptance of its bid for the He Dreiht wind farm.
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The EnBW bid for the construction of the 900 megawatt project did not include EEG subsidies. Following the acceptance of the bid today, the path is now clear for one of the largest offshore projects planned in Europe.
From a cost and efficiency perspective, He Dreiht offers a combination of benefits unique in Germany.
The wind farm is scheduled to be commissioned in 2025 and will benefit from rapidly advancing technological developments and the further professionalisation of the wind energy sector.
As by far the largest single project in the competitive auction, He Dreiht is also based on excellent foundations for the highly efficient realisation of the project.
Important synergy and thus cost-saving effects also arise due to its proximity to the two EnBW wind farms in the North Sea: around 1,500 megawatts of capacity can be realised and operated in close proximity with Hohe See, Albatros and He Dreiht.
In combination, these factors ensure that EnBW He Dreiht will offer particularly low electricity generation costs and can be realised and operated without EEG subsidies.
The first competitive auctions for the construction of offshore wind farms with 1,550 megawatts of capacity as part of the new German Renewable Energies Act (EEG) 2017 and the Offshore Wind Act (WindSeeG) had a number of special features.
The auction process saw various projects of differing sizes – which would only be connected up to the grid in four to eight years’ time (2021 to 2025) – competing against each other.
He Dreiht is due to be connected up to the grid in 2025 and can thus also not be realised until this point in time.
Therefore, it was possible to take into account the expected technological developments over the next few years in the bid submitted for EnBW He Dreiht. ■