E.ON and Equinor’s Arkona offshore wind farm has begun operations 35 kilometers northeast of the German island of Rügen. At 385 MW, the project represents the largest wind farm in the entire Baltic Sea, according to the partners.
The commissioning was celebrated at an event in the port of Sassnitz-Mukran on the island of Rügen. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern’s Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig and Norway’s Minister of Energy and Petroleum Kjell-Børge Freiberg officially launched the power generation together with E.ON and Equinor executives.
“Arkona sets a standard for the transition of the energy system,” said Merkel.
The wind farm, which comprises 60 Siemens Gamesa turbines at 6 MW each, can supply approximately 400,000 households with renewable energy. Compared to conventionally generated electricity, Arkona saves up to 1.2 million tons of CO2 annually. The project’s investment volume amounts to EUR 1.2 billion.
Jon Erik Reinhardsen, chairman of the board of directors at Equinor, calls the project’s opening a “key milestone” for the company.
“Equinor is already meeting 25 percent of Germany’s need for natural gas. Arkona is Equinor’s fourth wind farm coming online since 2012 and is a key contribution to developing Equinor into a broad energy company,” he says.
“The task now is to expand renewable energies vigorously and, at the same time, make them cheaper,” adds Johannes Teyssen, CEO of E.ON. “Green energy must be delivered to people and businesses much more efficiently than before. This is a Herculean task that requires all the strength of large companies. E.ON will focus on better integration and utilization of renewables for our customers and society.”
