Deutsche Bucht in Germany will be the first offshore windfarm to test the Mono Bucket foundation under commercial operating conditions, following a deal struck by Northland Power.
The deal follows May 2018 approval to use Mono Bucket foundations from the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) in Germany. A permit granted by the BSH will allow two additional wind turbines using Mono Bucket foundations to be installed on Deutsche Bucht.
The new turbines will contribute an additional 17 MW of generating capacity to the base 252 MW of the project, making a total of 269 MW, bringing the total project cost to approximately €1.4Bn (US$1.63Bn), up from €1.3Bn.
Production from the additional 17 MW demo project will earn the same fixed feed-in tariff as the base project for a period of approximately 13 years under the German Renewable Energy Act, equating to approximately €184/MWhr for eight years and €149/MWhr for the remainder.
Northland Power chief executive John Brace said the addition of the demonstration turbines could be of significant benefit to some of Northland’s future offshore windfarms and enable Northland to construct future projects more quickly and with lower costs.
Deutsche Bucht is currently under construction, with completion anticipated in the second half of 2019.
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