Wikinger Offshore Wind Farm which includes Baltic EagleIberdrola has received the green light to begin construction of the Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm, the company’s second major offshore project in the Baltic Sea. With a capacity of 476MW, Baltic Eagle will be capable of supplying renewable energy to 475,000 homes and will prevent the emission of more than 800,000 tonnes of CO
2 per year.
The construction phase will start after obtaining approvals from the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH), and the wind farm will be fully operational by the end of 2024.
Located 30km northeast of the island of Rügen, off the coast of Pomerania, Baltic Eagle is part of what will be the largest offshore wind complex in the Baltic Sea, with a total installed capacity of more than 1,100MW and a combined investment of 3.5 billion euros. This ‘hub’ also includes the Wikinger (350MW) offshore wind farm, which was commissioned at the end of 2017, and Windanker (300 MW), which will start operating in 2026.
The Spanish company Windar has already manufactured the first of the 50 transition pieces that will join the wind turbine towers to the foundations — a process that will create around 800 jobs and will last until the end of the year.
Loading to Germany is scheduled for the beginning of 2023. In addition, Germany’s EEW SPC has completed the first monopile at its Rostock plant. With a diameter of about 9m, between 75 and 90m long and weighing up to 1,402 tonnes, the 50 monopiles will be completed in early 2023.
The offshore substation is also on schedule and the platform is expected to be delivered this year for installation at the site. This substation is under construction and will be used jointly by Iberdrola and 50Hertz , the transmission system operator in northeast Germany and responsible for connecting the offshore wind farm to the grid.
Iberdrola says it expects to have 12,000MW of offshore wind energy in operation by 2030 and achieve cumulative investments of over 30 billion euros worldwide. At the end of 2021, Iberdrola had already reached 1,260MW offshore in operation, 1,800MW under construction and 5,400MW in advanced development, which will come into operation before 2027. The company has a portfolio of projects in the USA, the UK, Poland, Sweden, Ireland, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines and Brazil.