Energy: Wind farm off Rügen now connected to the grid

As reported by NDR 1 - Radio Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on 17 January 2023, another wind farm in the Baltic Sea is now supplying electricity. "Arcadis East 1" is located 19 kilometres off the coast of Rügen and has been producing wind energy since last week, as the Belgian energy company Parkwind announced.

Construction of the foundations began last June by the Deme Group, and the first turbines were installed in November with the help of a floating crane. Ultimately, the wind farm will have 27 wind turbines and a capacity of 257 megawatts. According to Parkwind, this could theoretically supply up to 290,000 households with electricity.

The Spanish energy company Iberdrola also plans to complete two further offshore wind farms off Rügen in the coming years. Together with the already completed "Wikinger" wind farm, Iberdrola alone will generate an output of around 1.1 gigawatts in the Baltic Sea off Rügen.

Expansion targets raised

At 7 gigawatts, by far the most German offshore wind energy currently comes from turbines in the North Sea. Germany raised its offshore targets last year. An installed capacity of at least 30 gigawatts is now planned by 2030.

There is a lack of skilled labour and production capacity

The expansion of wind turbines at sea is progressing, but not fast enough to achieve the expansion targets by 2030. This is the conclusion of the German Wind Energy Association, which expects significant expansion in the coming years, but believes it will remain difficult to achieve the target of 30 gigawatts of installed capacity by 2030. In the view of the German Wind Energy Association, the biggest obstacles are a lack of skilled labour and a lack of production capacity. The association is therefore calling on politicians to provide a realistic basis for achieving the expansion targets.