Topping out ceremony for the Arkona offshore wind farm operations and service complex
E.ON and Statoil have reached another milestone in the construction of the Arkona offshore wind farm project in the Baltic Sea. On Monday (February 20) the topping out ceremony was held for the operating and maintenance building at Mukran Port in Sassnitz on the island of Rügen. Nearly four million euros have been invested in this project.
The complex, which encompasses a 3000 square-metre area, consists of offices and common spaces as well as a warehouse for spare/replacement parts. Operation and maintenance of the wind farm will be handled entirely from the harbour in Sassnitz. Two transport ships can dock directly in front of the complex, be loaded and unloaded using a crane and bring the technicians to the windfarm. The operating and maintenance building is part of harbour extension for Arkona project. The port prepares and builds the necessary wharf space and berths – including a heavy-duty space – to ensure seamless transshipping and other processes on a total area of 25 acres (10 hectares).
Building completion is planned for June. This will mark the fulfilment of an important precondition for beginning construction of the wind farm on the high seas. The initial foundation is slated to be laid by mid-year. Preparations for this are also on schedule. The production of the monopole foundations has begun at the EEW facility in Rostock, the transition pieces will be manufactured by Bladt Industries in Aalborg, Denmark. Construction of the offshore transformer station by the French shipyard STX in the docks at Marseille is progressing well.
During the construction phase at sea up to 400 employees from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will be involved in building the wind farm. For subsequent operation, up to 50 high-skilled jobs will be created in Sassnitz over a period of 25 years in the fields of operations management, administration and maintenance along with an additional 100 indirect jobs in external services.
The Arkona project is located 35 kilometres northeast of the island of Rügen. The wind farm will generate 385 megawatts (MW) of power which computes as a supply of renewable energy for 400,000 households. Compared with conventionally generated electricity, Arkona will save up to 1.2 million tons of CO2 per year. 60 6-MW wind turbines manufactured by Siemens will be installed. The plants will be built on monopile foundations in water depths from 23 up to 37 metres. Arkona is a joint venture of E.ON with the Norwegian energy company Statoil.
Image: Eon