At the end of February this year, a German media outlet reported that the consortium was currently considering the next steps for the wind farm, with decommissioning being one of the options.
EWE and RWE have now highlighted the project’s intended purpose as the reports that followed over the past month focused on Alpha Ventus being “only” 15 years old and the subsidy period, during which the project received higher remuneration for electricity it produced, ending last year.
“What many misleading reports fail to mention is that ‘alpha ventus’ is not a regular windfarm – but an offhore test field with two different types of (early) turbines and foundations. It is considered a pioneering project in technical, legal and ecological terms and was built to gather as much experience as possible for all subsequent commercial projects. The test field has already more than fulfilled this purpose” , a spokesperson for EWE told offshoreWIND.biz .
The operator consortium says it is currently examining all possible options for the future of the Alpha Ventus test field, including decommissioning and dismantling. In this case, too, the 60 MW offshore wind farm would again serve the industry since not many offshore wind farms have been decommissioned to date and would provide valuable knowledge.
“Just as we were the first to take a step out to sea back then, we will naturally also be among the first operators to gain experience with the dismantling of a wind farm at some point” , the EWE spokesperson said.
Alpha Ventus is still entitled to the basic state remuneration of 3.9 euro cents/kWh under the German Renewable Energy Act (EEG). However, the project is not utilising this but is marketing the electricity directly on the electricity exchange, according to EWE.
“That means that the date for the possible dismantling of the test field also depends on the conditions under which the electricity generated can be marketed in the coming years. We are endeavouring to reach a decision over the year”, the EWE spokesperson said.
RWE, which also emphasised that Alpha Ventus “has more than fulfilled its role” as an offshore wind test field, noted that it was “a normal process” to consider an offshore wind farm’s future years before the end of its design lifetime.
“ The extensive knowledge and data gathered during the planning, construction and subsequent operation of Alpha Ventus laid the foundation for the successful development of offshore wind off the German coast”, a RWE spokesperson said in a statement to offshoreWIND.biz.
“After more than 15 years of operation, it is time to think about the future of the offshore wind farm. It is a normal process in the offshore industry to start thinking about this 5-7 years before design lifetime ends.”
The RWE spokesperson also added that the project partners were working closely with the relevant authorities on considering the next steps and that the consortium is still at the very early stage of deliberations.
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