Alpha Ventus Offshore Wind Farm

Alpha Ventus

Aerial view of Alpha Ventus wind park (may 2012)
Location of Alpha Ventus off the coast of Germany on the North Sea
Country Germany
Location North Sea, ~44 km (27 mi) northwest of Borkum
Coordinates 54°1′N 6°36′E / 54.017°N 6.600°E / 54.017; 6.600Coordinates: 54°1′N 6°36′E / 54.017°N 6.600°E / 54.017; 6.600
Status Operational
Commission date 2009
Owner(s) EWE
E.ON
Vattenfall
Wind farm
Type Offshore
Power generation
Units operational 12 × 5 MW
Make and model Adwen AD 5-116
REpower 5M
Nameplate capacity 60 MW
Capacity factor 50 - 55% (2011 & 2012)
Alpha Ventus' location in the wind farms of the German Bight

Alpha ventus (former known as Borkum West) is Germany's first offshore wind farm. It is situated in the North Sea 45 kilometres (28 mi) north of the island of Borkum.

History

Construction work at alpha ventus wind park (July 2009)

The application for construction of the wind farm near Borkum was submitted in 1999. The permit was given by the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency in 2001. In 2007, contracts for supplying wind turbines were signed with REpower and Areva. That same year, a contract for the construction of a subsea cable connection to the German grid was signed. Construction of the alpha ventus substation started in July 2008. On July 15, 2009, the first wind turbine was installed and the first six turbines delivered by Areva went operational in August 2009. Installation of another six turbines delivered by REpower started in September 2009.[1] Construction of the wind farm was completed on November 16, 2009 after a seven-month construction period. On April 27, 2010 the farm was officially opened and set into commercial operation.[2]

Description

The wind farm is owned by Deutsche Offshore-Testfeld und Infrastruktur-GmbH & Co. KG, a joint venture of EWE (47.5%), E.ON (26.25%), and Vattenfall (26.25%).[3] It consist of twelve turbines of which six turbines are 5 megawatt (MW) Adwen AD 5-116 (formerly known as Areva Multibrid M5000) and six turbines are REpower 5M. Turbines stand in 30 m of water and are not visible from land.[4] The REpower turbines are installed onto jacket foundations (OWEC Jacket Quattropods) by the crane ship Thialf and Adwen turbines are installed onto tripod-style foundations by the jack-up barge Odin.[1] In May 2010 two Areva Multibrid, generators went off service due severe overheating in their gearboxes. There is a pressure to Areva to replace all six turbines.[5]

Due to delays, the cost of the project grew from 190 million to 250 million euro (US$270 to $357 million), or 4200 €/kW (6000 $/kW).[6][7]

In 2011, the wind farm had the highest registered capacity factor of 50.8% of most European offshore wind farms. This was exceeded in 2012 with a capacity factor of 55%, a global record. The project team noted that the expected capacity factor of 42% was a considerable underestimation.[8][9]

Research

Because it is the first offshore wind farm in Germany, alpha ventus is accompanied by several research projects sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Environment (BMU). In 2003, the research platform FINO 1 was built approximately 400 m to the west of the wind farm. Research interests include:[10]

See also

Media related to Alpha ventus at Wikimedia Commons

References

  1. 1 2 The foundations for the Areva turbines were so called tripods designed by OWT. The foundations for the REpower turbines were developed and designed by OWEC Tower. Stromsta, Karl-Erik (2009-09-30). "First REpower turbine goes up at Germany's 60MW Alpha Ventus". ReCharge (NHST Media Group). (subscription required). Archived from the original on 26 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-18.
  2. ↑ "Start-up celebration for offshore test field alpha ventus". Your Industry News. April 26, 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
  3. ↑ "DOTI: the future of wind energy". EWE AG. Retrieved 2010-07-18.
  4. ↑ "Germany completes construction of first offshore wind farm". Monsters and Critics.com, WotR Ltd. Deutsche Presse Agentur. November 16, 2009. Archived from the original on 19 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
  5. ↑ "Areva under pressure as M5000 turbines malfunction". ReCharge (NHST Media Group). 2010-06-25. (subscription required). Archived from the original on 29 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-18.
  6. ↑ "Germany goes offshore: EWE, E.ON and Vattenfall have constructed the first wind turbine for alpha ventus" (Press release). alpha ventus. July 15, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  7. ↑ "First German offshore wind farm online". Wind Daily. August 14, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  8. ↑ "Capacity factor by commissioned sites". Archived from the original on July 28, 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  9. ↑ Knight, Sara (29 May 2015). "Politics block German offshore wind link". windpowermonthly.com. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015.
  10. ↑ "A Neighbour for the FINO 1 Research Platform" (PDF). DEWI Magazin. DEWI. August 31, 2007. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
  11. ↑ Clive, P. J. M., et al., Offshore power curve tests for onshore costs: a real world case study European Wind Energy Association Annual Conference, 2014. Retrieved: 9 May 2014.
  12. ↑ Gallacher, D., and More, G., Lidar measurements and visualisation of turbulence and wake decay length European Wind Energy Association Annual Conference, 2014. Retrieved: 9 May 2014.
  13. ↑ Asimakopoulos, M., Clive, P. J. M., More, G., and Boddington, R., Offshore compression zone measurement and visualisation European Wind Energy Association Annual Conference, 2014. Retrieved: 9 May 2014.

External links

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