All turbines installed at Iberdrola's 350-MW Wikinger offshore wind farm

Spanish utility Iberdrola SA (BME:IBE) said today it has installed all 70 turbines at its 350-MW Wikinger offshore wind farm in the German Baltic Sea.

The EUR-1.4-billion (USD 1.6bn) wind park uses 5-MW AD 5-135 turbines, made by Adwen in its factories in Germany. They were installed by Fred. Olsen Windcarrier, which used its jack-up installation vessel Brave Tern.

The installation of the offshore substation and the inter-array cables has been completed and Adwen is now progressing with the start-up of the turbines, which will operate in “island mode” until the grid connection is ready. According to the announcement, transmission system operator 50Hertz, which is responsible for connecting offshore wind farms in the German Baltic Sea, is currently carrying out the final cable laying works and the technical tests.

Iberdrola is now moving its Wikinger base to an operation and maintenance (O&M) building in the port of Sassnitz.

The Spanish group says it is committed to investing in offshore wind, currently focusing its activities in the UK, Germany, France and the US. The Wikinger project follows the 2014 commissioning of the 389-MW West of Duddon Sands offshore wind farm in the UK, which it owns jointly with Dong Energy A/S (CPH:DENERG).

Turbine manufacturer Adwen was set up in 2015 as a 50/50 joint venture between France's Areva and Spain's Gamesa. The French nuclear power company decided in mid-September 2016 to sell its 50% stake in the offshore wind turbine developer to its JV partner ahead of Gamesa’s merger with the wind power division of Siemens AG (ETR:SIE) that closed earlier this year.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.177)

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