The first municipal offshore wind park

After four years of construction, the Trianel Windpark Borkum was inaugurated on September 1st. "It is the first concept for an offshore wind park that was put into practice through a close collaboration between Trianel, the public utility companies and the municipal energy providers", explains Klaus Horstick, one of the directors of the Trianel Windkraftwerk Borkum GmbH & Co. KG. The Trianel GmbH represents the interests of the public utility companies and the energy providers, and it is fully in charge of the project planning and implementation. More than 150 guests participated in the inauguration festivities. Among them was Jo-hannes Remmel, the minister for climate protection, environmental is-sues, agriculture and consumer protection in North Rhine-Westphalia, as well as representatives of 33 involved public utility companies.

The project: Trianel Windpark Borkum

The Trianel Windpark Borkum is located about 45 km away from the Frisian island Borkum. After finishing the first construction phase, 40 wind energy plants can now provide green electricity for around 200.000 municipal households. The 33 involved public utility companies have financed the whole project with an overall investment volume of 1 Billion Euros. „Rabobank made a key contribution to putting this ambitious and trend-setting project into practice. Now the public utility companies are capable of offering their self-generated green electricity to the consumer at an affordable price”, says Manuel Eck, another director in charge of Trianel Windkraftwerk Borkum GmbH & Co. KG. As the main responsible financial institution, the Rabobank supports the project together with ten other banks. During the authorization process, Rabobank furthermore provided the necessary financial guarantees.

Right from the beginning, when planning the first construction phase, measures for a sustainable preservation of the environment were implemented. A so-called pneumatic bubble barrier was used to protect the marine wildlife from a harmful sound exposure caused by the construction works.

The wind park fundamentally contributes to the climate protection by expanding the capabilities of generating green energy.

With the official launch the first phase has been finalized. At this first stage, the 40 wind energy plants produce 200 megawatts of energy. For the second construction phase, another 40 plants have already been planned and authorized. The wind park will then provide 400 megawatts of green energy for around 400.000 households.

Milestones:

December 15th 2010	The shareholder meeting unanimously decides in favour of constructing the Trianel Windpark.
December 21st 2010	The financing agreements are signed.
June 2011	Measures to protect the maritime wildlife are implemented during the construction phase.
September 1st 2011	Launch of the construction works.
June 1st 2014	The 40th wind energy plant is ready for operation – the first construction phase of the Trianel Windpark Borkum has been completed.
February 2015	A permanent energy transport line to the mainland is successfully installed.
September 2015	All 40 plants are now officially operational.

Support of wind energy projects

Rabobank is committed to supporting the ongoing development of wind energy, both on and offshore. In addition to the Trianel Borkum Windfarm, Rabobank is involved in three other wind projects: Butendiek, Global Tech I and Nordsee One. Butendiek and Global Tech I  were put into operation in the summer of 2015. Nordsee One is currently undergoing construction. These four projects together will have the capacity to supply about 1.4 million households with eco-electricity.

More information

www.trianel-borkum.de
www.globaltechone.de
www.owp-butendiek.de
www.nordseeone.com