The Chairman of Iberdrola, Ignacio Galán, expressed his pride at the commissioning of this facility, a benchmark for the company: “We will continue to champion offshore wind energy technology since it enables us to drive the energy transition to a sustainable, low carbon economy.”
Today, Iberdrola has officially cut the ribbon on Wikinger offshore wind farm, one of the company’s most iconic power plants in the world, having invested over €1.4 billion. At the helm of the event were also the company 50 Hertz and authorities from the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
Wikinger is fully operational and its 350-Mw are connected to the German grid, supplying efficient renewable energy to 350,000 homes (representing some 20% of the energy demand of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern). This flow of clean energy will have a positive environmental impact since it displaces the emission of nearly 600,000 tons of CO2 per year.
The Chairman of Iberdrola, Ignacio Galán, celebrated the commissioning of this iconic facility for the company: “Wikinger represents a new step in our commitment to supplying clean, efficient and reliable electricity. We will continue to champion offshore wind technology since it enables us to drive the energy transition to a sustainable, low carbon economy.”
Galán added that “this wind farm is a clear example of cutting-edge technology and it showcases the enormous potential of Europe’s energy industry to lead the Continent’s reindustrialization through innovation.”
The Wikinger project marks Iberdrola’s entry into the German electricity market, where it has just been awarded the construction of two other offshore wind farms: Baltic Eagle (476 MW) and Wikinger Süd (10 MW). Together with Wikinger, these three wind farms, located off the island of Rügen, will give rise to the largest offshore wind complex in the Baltic Sea, with a total installed capacity of 836 MW and a combined investment of €2.5 billion.
Thus, Germany becomes a key area for Iberdrola group over the coming years, alongside its core markets: United States, United Kingdom, Mexico, Brazil and Spain.
Wikinger is the first offshore wind farm to be designed and operated one hundred per cent by a Spanish company. It has consolidated Iberdrola as Europe’s leading company in renewable energy, capable of developing projects in markets as competitive as Germany and meeting the demanding planning conditions set by German authorities. In addition, it has served to boost the entire supply chain, benefiting companies across Europe, including Navantia and Windar.
This project has come to fruition thanks to the multidisciplinary and multinational composition of the team set up by Iberdrola and its network of first-rate international suppliers and contractors. Over 2,000 employees from 20 different countries participated in this milestone project. Iberdrola has had to overcome the technological challenges inherent to this type of work and the difficulties arising from the extreme weather conditions in the Baltic Sea.
The event, which took place at the port of Sassnitz-Mukran, was attended by Iberdrola’s Business CEO, Francisco Martínez Córcoles, the Minister of Energy, Infrastructure and Digitisation of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Christian Pegel, and the CEO of 50 Hertz, Boris Schucht.
Wikinger, a mark for Iberdrola
Located off the north-east coast of the German island of Rügen, Wikinger brings together the main themes of Iberdrola’s strategy: strong investment in the development of renewable energies, commitment to reducing emissions, technological innovation, international growth, opening of new markets and business lines to its suppliers, and an important boost for the European naval industry.
To build the project, 280 piles were installed. Measuring 40 metres in length by 2.5 metres in diameter, and a unit weight of 150 tonnes, they were all built by Spanish company Windar. A total of 70 foundations were laid on them, each weighing 620 tonnes, manufactured by Bladt Industries in Lindo (Denmark) and Navantia, at its shipyard in Fene (Spain).
The 5-MW Siemens Gamesa AD 5-135 turbines were manufactured in the company’s plants in Bremerhaven and Stade (Germany). These are the wind turbines with the highest power rating and largest dimensions that Iberdrola has installed thus far. With a total height of 165 metres, they are made up of a 75-metre high tower, a 222-tonne nacelle and a 135-metre diameter rotor, with each blade measuring 67 metres long.
Finally, one of Wikinger’s key pieces of infrastructure is the Andalucía offshore substation, which will be used jointly by Iberdrola and 50Hertz, an electricity system operator in Germany. Weighing around 8,500 tonnes, the energy heart of the wind farm was also built by Navantia in Puerto Real in southern Spain.
Commitment to offshore wind power
Offshore wind energy is one of the keys to Iberdrola’s growth and the company has undertaken notable projects in this sector in the United Kingdom, Germany and France. These large investments will help advance the transition to a decarbonised energy model and combat climate change.
These are the main projects underway:
West of Duddon Sands (WoDS): Located in the Irish Sea, WoDS was the first offshore wind farm the Iberdrola Group was involved in. It was developed by the company in consortium with Orsted and came into operation in 2014. It has 389 MW capacity and the investment was over £1.6 billion.
East Anglia One (EAO): Mega-project currently under construction in British waters in the North Sea, it will become one of the world’s largest offshore wind farms when it starts operating in 2020. It will involve an estimated investment of £2.5 billion and have a capacity of 714 MW.
Saint-Brieuc: This 496-MW facility will be located 20 kilometres off the coast of Brittany in northern France, about 100 kilometres from the city of Rennes. It will have 62 Siemens-Gamesa turbines, with 8 MW unit capacity.
Vineyard Wind: Iberdrola, through Vineyard Wind, recently received authorisation from the Massachusetts Electric Distribution Companies (EDC) to construct a wind farm off the north-east coast of the United States. The project, which represents the company’s first large-scale offshore wind farm venture in that country will have 800 MW capacity.
Wikinger offshore wind farm was inaugurated in October 2018, in an event where the Chairman of the Iberdrola group, Ignacio Galán, celebrated the commissioning of this iconic facility for the company, that has involved an investment over €1.4 billion: “Wikinger represents a new step in our commitment to supplying clean, efficient and reliable electricity. We will continue to champion offshore wind technology since it enables us to drive the energy transition to a sustainable, low carbon economy.”
At the end of 2017, Iberdrola successfully connected the offshore wind farm to the national grid and, since then, supplies 350 megawatts (MW) of capacity to the German power grid and provides efficient renewable energy to 350,000 homes — representing some 20% of the energy demand of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern —. This flow of clean energy will have a positive environmental impact since it displaces the emission of nearly 600,000 tons of CO2 per year.
Wikinger marks Iberdrola’s entry into the German electricity market, where it has just been awarded the construction of two other offshore wind farms: Baltic Eagle (476 MW) and Wikinger Süd (10 MW). Together with Wikinger, these three wind farms, located off the island of Rügen, will give rise to the largest offshore wind complex in the Baltic Sea, with a total installed capacity of 836 MW and a combined investment of €2.5 billion.
Thus, Germany becomes a key area for Iberdrola group over the coming years, alongside its core markets: United States, United Kingdom, Mexico, Brazil and Spain.
Iberdrola is a global energy leader, the biggest producer of wind power and one of the five top power companies in the world in terms of stock market capitalisation. The group is present in numerous countries and supplies energy to over 100 million people mainly in Spain, the United Kingdom (Scottish Power), the USA (AVANGRID), Brazil (Neoenergia) and Mexico. With a workforce of 34,000 and assets in excess of €110 billion, it posted revenues of €31.26 billion and a net profit of €2.8 billion in 2017.
Iberdrola is leading the transition towards a sustainable energy model through its investments in energy from renewable sources, smart grids, large-scale energy storage and digital transformation in order to offer its customers the most advanced products and services. Thanks to its commitment to clean energy, Iberdrola is one of the companies with the lowest emissions and an international benchmark for its contribution to the fight against climate change and for the sustainability of the planet. Iberdrola is listed on numerous international sustainability indices, among them the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and FTSE4Good, and is considered one of the most sustainable electricity utilities in the world.
