Baltic Sea winds to power up more households in Germany

26.09.2019

Arcadis Ost 1 is one of the latest offshore wind farm developments born from the German renewable energy support system. The wind farm will produce enough energy to power 290,000 households and plays an important role in producing wind energy originating from the sea regions. COWI has staffed up its Hamburg office to meet the growing demand for wind expertise.

Another busy day in Hamburg’s HafenCity is beginning. For COWI's branch office in Hamburg this is a long-waited special day – the day when a team of wind specialists will open the doors to new larger office premises in the former Port of Hamburg area. The team in Hamburg has tripled in size, following the company’s strategy to double its wind business in the coming three years.

COWI is no stranger to Germany’s wind energy market. Since 2013, the company’s wind experts have delivered feasibility studies and detailed design for multiple wind projects off the German coast. First with Wikinger in the Baltic Sea, powering up 350,000 German homes, then in the North Sea through projects such as Merkur in 2018, Albatros in 2019 and Hohe See which is expected to complete installations soon.

Most recently COWI was chosen to deliver the detailed design of monopile foundations for the wind turbines and offshore substation for Arcadis Ost 1, a Parkwind Ost GmbH development. The wind farm is located within the 12-nautical mile zone North-East of the Rügen island in Mecklenburg-Western and will give a total grid connection capacity of approximately 247 MW - enough to cater for 290,000 households.

“We are very pleased to be back on the Baltic Sea. It’s a challenging geography which requires special considerations for ice loads, chalk, glacial clay and soft soil in a water depth that varies between 42 and 46 metres – and just what the team has been waiting for. We are geared to locally handle all aspects from energy yield assessments and foundation design to geotechnical, electrical and mechanical engineering and lifetime optimisation.” Jan Rønberg, COWI's Senior Market Director for Offshore Wind, says.

“Offshore wind energy is of central importance for the achievement of climate protection targets and Germany like many other countries is in the midst of a huge energy transformation. We have recognised the importance of local presence and took a strategic decision to build up a strong team covering all the wind energy related engineering services here in Hamburg.”