The first of the He Dreiht wind turbines – credit EnBW, released

The first of 64 gargantuan wind turbines is up and spinning under its own weight in the North Sea, promising the first 15 megawatts of what will become around 1,000 MW which could power a medium-sized city.

EnBW is one of Germany’s largest energy companies, and the He Dreiht offshore wind farm, translated as the “It Spins” wind farm, has been financed without any government subsidies.

“It will play a key role in helping us to significantly grow our renewable energy output from 6.6 GW to over 10 GW by 2030,” said Michael Class, who heads up EnBW’s generation portfolio development.

Believed to be capable of generating 980 megawatts of peak power, it will deliver enough energy to power 1.1 million homes, with each turbine being so large that a single spin of their giant blades could power a house for a whole day, according to Michelle Lewis at Eletrek. 

Depending on conditions, up to 500 workers across 60 vessels will be out building the wind turbines in their remote spot dozens of kilometers from land.

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Foundations for each turbine were already drilled and laid into the seabed last year, and each turbine will have to be lifted up vertically with large, ship-mounted cranes.

A partner consortium made up of Allianz Capital Partners, AIP, and Norges Bank Investment Management owns 49.9% of the shares in He Dreiht, with the rest owned by EnBW.

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