Projects for new turbine line secured -- ENO Energy starts talking

German wind developer ENO Energy is busy securing a healthy line of projects for its new turbine model, which this month should start rolling off a just completed EUR 5 million assembly line. The 2 MW machine was designed in close cooperation with Germany's RSB Consult, now part of Indian turbine manufacturer Kenersys. A prototype has been operating since the end of March in Fienstorf, near Rostock, close to ENO headquarters in Ostseebad Rerik. The unit will be available for ENO's projects by the end of this year, it says.

The company also expects to complete the sale of 40 MW of its German projects, either operating or under construction, before the end of the year, having issued a call for potential buyers back in April. Negotiations are ongoing with two companies, says ENO, although it declines to name them.

A further 75 MW may also be put up for sale, comprising around 25-30 MW in Germany and the rest coming from its projects overseas, most likely in France or Bulgaria. In Bulgaria, where ENO established a subsidiary in May, construction on a first project is expected at the end of 2009. ENO is also developing wind projects in Romania, Turkey and Poland.

French market

Its main market overseas, however, is France, following its purchase of developer Energie Eolienne France in September, including a 200 MW project pipeline. Some of that will be ready to build by the end of next year, while a "second wave" of projects is expected to go into operation in 2010 and 2011, according to ENO.

The company says that most of its future projects will employ its 2 MW turbine. The first 20 machines off the production line are earmarked for ENO developments. Delivery to other customers will begin in the second quarter of 2009, with output during the year expected to reach 50 turbines, says ENO's Lars Biebel. This will rise to 80 turbines in 2010, then to about 120 in 2011, or 150 if production of a new turbine type with longer blades begins as planned, he says. The current turbine has a rotor diameter of 83.4 metres and a choice of hub heights of 58.6, 80 and 101 metres.

For sales outside ENO, the company's policy is to negotiate a stake in the projects using its machines. Orders need to be placed before the end of 2008 to secure machines in 2009, Biebel says. Beyond that, a 12-month order period will be the norm. To fund its expansion plans, the company plans to launch an eight digit euro corporate bond offer, aimed at institutional investors, also by the end of this year.