STORMY SEAS: BUILDING THE MERKUR OFFSHORE WIND FARM

The Merkur offshore wind farm, located 28 miles from Germany’s Borkum Island, has 66 wind turbines producing enough power for almost half a million homes. Merkur’s impressive offshore wind power is part of Germany’s goal of generating 80% of the country’s electricity from renewable power sources by 2050.

FACING AND OVERCOMING CHALLENGES

But before the ground was even broken on Merkur, a number of wind energy planning and financial challenges entered the picture, necessitating a collaboration among GE businesses and demonstrating the power of the GE Store.

“We wanted to be part of Germany’s energy transition to renewables.” says Paul Hennemeyer, a managing director at GE Energy Financial Services (EFS).

Managing the risks and logistics of buying wind power services and equipment from a spectrum of vendors as well as securing financing were two of the earlier obstacles, but the company was able to overcome the challenges by combining the wind power generation resources of EFS, GE Renewable Energy and GE Power.

THE GE STORE IN ACTION

The Haliade offshore wind turbine design used in the Merkur project saved €13 million in costs, courtesy of a new converter from Power Conversion, and the electricity generated by the wind turbines will go to a new substation developed by Grid Solutions.

The collaboration and results were worth the wait, Hennemeyer says. “As a result of this deal, people are now taking GE seriously in the offshore wind market, and we are getting calls about doing other projects.”

Read the full story on GE Reports.