Start of Construction of the First Windreich AG Offshore Wind Farm on Schedule

Dipl.-Wirt.-Ing. (FH) Willi Balz, who gathered the around 800 million in equity required for Global Tech I, and Tim Kittelhake, who performed all of the project work to date, are delighted about the punctual start of construction of the first 400 MW North Sea wind farm, Global Tech I initiated by Windreich AG. “We keep our promises.” The experienced Windreich AG managers are now managing directors of the second Windreich North Sea windfarm MEG 1, which also has one of the sought-after network connections, together with Anil Srivastava, the former CEO of AREVA Renewable Energies.

In the German North Sea, the installation of the windfarm consisting of 80 wind turbines type AREVA Wind M5000 with an output of 5 MW (total of 400 MW) will begin in the next few days. The floating and self-installing Alstom substation will firstly be towed from the shipyard in Rotterdam to the 43 square kilometre construction site. Then the first tripods (with sturdy foundations for deepwaters weighing 950 tonnes) will be shipped from their storage location on the ABC peninsula in Bremerhaven to the windfarm area 180 kilometres away. In autumn 2012, installation of the internal farm cabling will commence. This guarantees, as it has always been emphasised, full completion by the end of 2013 as scheduled.

Global Tech I will then provide 1 million people with affordable and safely generated electricity. Due to the experiences gained over two years with the Alpha Ventus test windfarm, equipped with the same 5 MW AREVA technology, 98 percent availability and more than 4500 full load hours can be expected. Alpha Ventus, which is not in such a favourable wind position as Global Tech I, only failed to supply electricity on three days in the generally low wind year 2011. North Sea wind power is therefore proven to be capable of producing a base load.

Founded in 1999 by industrial engineer (FH) Willie Balz, Windreich AG is a group of companies of the on and offshore wind energy industry with headquarters in Wolfschlugen, Germany. Windreich AG employs over 130 experienced people and is today one of Germany’s most successful wind energy companies with over 1,000 financed, built and managed wind power plants. Among the top ten best offshore wind parks in Germany are three from Windreich AG, including the award-winning project of the year, Global Tech 1, which is number one with an actual power output of 400 MW. Last year Global Tech 1 received 1.047 billion euro of project financing from 16 banks, among them the European Investment Bank and the KfW. Willi Balz was able to procure 800 million euros from only six well-known investors from southern Germany as well. All approved offshore projects possess a grid connection and are developing according to plan. With a planned actual power output of 8.4 GW, a further 20 projects in the German North Sea have been secured. With this, Windreich is contributing long-term to the alternative-energy revolution in Germany and will be able to supply nearly 20 million people with sustainable, CO2 free energy from wind in the future.

For more information please visit www.windreich.ag