Greentech Wind Energy Offshore Orsted Sustainability Wind farm operator Ørsted has started construction of the first of two further offshore wind farms in the North Sea. For the new Gode Wind 3 wind farm around 32 kilometers off the island of Norderney, the first foundations were laid last Friday, as the energy supplier announced on Monday in Hamburg. After the foundations have been built, a total of 23 turbines, each with an output of 11 megawatts, are to be installed in the wind farm next year. According to Ørsted, the turbines with a rotor diameter of 200 meters will then be the largest wind turbines on the German North Sea.
Offshore specialist in renewable energy
Following this work, Ørsted also wants to set 83 foundations for the second new wind farm Borkum Riffgrund 3 around 53 kilometers off the island of Borkum in the coming months. With a total output of 913 megawatts, by 2025 it will be the largest German offshore wind farm to date.
913 megawatts: Largest German offshore wind farm
The foundations, weighing 1,500 tons, are hydraulically rammed into the seabed at both wind farms by a special ship. In order to protect the marine environment and marine mammals, Ørsted wants to use noise protection systems.
Ørsted is one of the world‘s leading offshore wind farm operators. So far, the Danish energy supplier has operated four wind farms in the German Bight: Borkum Riffgrund 1 and 2 and Gode Wind 1 and 2. Together with the two new wind farms, enough wind energy is to be produced annually in the future to supply the equivalent of around 2.5 million households can. Most recently, Ørsted built a new offshore wind farm off the German coast in 2018.
Greentech wind energy is booming
According to the consulting firm Deutsche Windguard, a total of 1,563 wind turbines with a total output of around 8.3 gigawatts were recently in operation in the German North and Baltic Seas. It is planned that within seven years, i.e. by 2030, a further 22 gigawatts of wind energy capacity will be installed at sea – that would be more than two and a half times the current capacity.
Greentech Orsted focuses on sustainability
Ørsted was founded in March 1972 as Dansk Naturgas A/S by the Kingdom of Denmark, initiated by the government at the time, Jens Otto Krag III. The name was changed to Dansk Olie og Naturgas A/S in 1973, and from 2002 only the derived abbreviation “Dong” was used.
2006 Dong Energy A/S was formed from the merger of Dong, Elsam, Energi E2, NEsa, KE Holding and Frederiksberg Elnet Group.