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The Week in Germany: Business and Technology

October 6, 2006

Environmental Minister Sigmar Gabriel Gives Green Light to the German Wind Energy Testing Field in the North Sea

On Monday, Germany’s top environmental official announced that the government and private organizations cooperating in a proposed offshore wind energy project had come to an agreement on how to proceed. Several energy companies and a wind turbine producer will work with the Federal Government to erect a dozen 5-megawatt wind farms in the North Sea by 2008.

Offshore wind energy could further reduce greenhouse gas emissions: Photo, LAIF

Investment in the project is estimated at 180 million Euros ($228 million), 50 million of which will come from the Federal Government for technical research and development. These R&D funds will be crucial to overcome the special challenges faced by offshore wind farms – corrosion and long connections to the landside electrical grid.

Sigmar Gabriel declared that the test project opens a new chapter in the use of renewable energies, “This project is the basis for commercial offshore wind energy after 2008,” he continued.

Among the further benefits of the project, Gabriel explained, is the potential to improve landside wind farms based on the experience with the offshore turbines. If these can be made more efficient, then it is also possible to minimize the number of wind turbines dotting the landscape.

The project also promises economic opportunities. Gabriel pointed out that several European countries and China have expressed an interest in the results of the project. About 64,000 people currently work in the German wind energy sector.

Links:

Siemens AG Announces Plans to Build Wind Turbines in Iowa (from TWIG August 25, 2006)

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