By Kari Williamson

The Alpha Ventus consortium DOTI, formed by the companies of EWE, E.ON and Vattenfall, look back at 2011 with satisfaction.

"These results exceed our expectations," says Dr. Claus Burkhardt of EWE and DOTI Managing Director and General Project Manager.

"The exceptionally high power yields achieved by alpha ventus in 2011 are due primarily to the nearly constant and excellent wind conditions at the wind farm together with a high turbine availability of up to 97%."

Germany must address connection issues

The German Government has made offshore wind power a key technology for accomplishing the transformation of the German energy system (Energiewende). However, Germany's goal of 10 GW of installed offshore wind capacity by 2020 can only be achieved by quickly eliminating obstacles, such as the uncertain and slow grid connection for planned offshore wind farms, the consortium warns.

Rudolf Neuwirth, DOTI Managing Director for E.ON, says: "Now that the Federal Government has created better conditions, and therefore better incentives for new investments in offshore wind farms by amending the Renewable Energies Act (EEG) in the past year, they must now find a solution for ensuring the grid connection for these farms. Otherwise, many projects may fail, putting the continued growth and development of the industry at risk.”