Plambeck secures offshore grid connection agreement for 90 MW

German wind energy developer and operator Plambeck Neue Energien has a grid connection agreement for the initial phase of its planned offshore wind station, Borkum Riffgrund. E.on Netz, which owns and operates the high voltage network in northern Germany, has confirmed that it will take electricity generated in the pilot phase of the North Sea project at its transformer station, Emden-Borssum. This covers 90 MW of capacity. "E.on Netz has also agreed to work on a plan for the grid connection point so that all the wind turbines eventually to be installed at Borkum Riffgrund can be connected," says Rainer Heinsohn of Plambeck. The agreement represents "a significant step forward to realising our offshore wind station plans," he adds. Plambeck Neue Energien, which is listed on the German stock exchange, expects to begin construction of the plant in about two years (Windpower Monthly, October 1999). The pilot phase, planned for a site about 40 kilometres north of Borkum island, will involve about 30 turbines, Heinsohn says.