trailer world Issue One 2012

14 Issue One 2012 Title here and in Sweden and the Netherlands be- fore the turn of the century. There are several large farms along the Danish coast, including Nysted south of the island of Lolland. With 72 wind turbines and an output of over 165 megawatts, it generates more electricity every year than any other offshore wind farm in the world. The operator Dong energy is currently working on an even larger project near the island of Anholt, also in the Baltic Sea, with 111 wind turbines, which will supply 400,000 households with electricity. The wind farm is due to be completed in 2013, weather per- mitting. Why has the weather actually become the “great unknown” and thus the major risk to construction? It has long been known that a strong breeze blows at sea. “The influence of the weather was nevertheless underestimat- ed”, admits Andreas Kölling. “At our site for example, wind measurements were made out to a distance of 50 km. But the assump- tions that were then made were not correct. Out there the wind blows even more strongly and steadily.” This may be bad news for the construction of a wind farm, but very good news for its operation: 4,000 full-load hours were estimated for “BARD Offshore 1”, but this has now been revised to a good 4,400 hours. Andreas Kölling stress- es that the influences of wind and waves are really difficult to estimate, due to lack of experience with such construction sites. In addition, the weather far off the coast is un- predictable in the truest sense of the word. “We have obtained weather records going back over the past 50 years to develop models. Nevertheless, we are sometimes still surprised.” Nature is unpredictable. In winter 2010/2011, there was a period with ideal conditions, when work could continue almost uninterrupted for a long time. In August 2011 however, we suddenly had waves almost ten metres high. There was little to be done, says Kölling, because in the end: “The life and the health of our employees have top priority.” (jg) Further information on the subject of offshore wind energy can be found on the Internet at: www. offshore-wind.de or www.windenergie-agentur.de »The industry is still very young and has a lot to learn.« Andreas Wellbrock, BLG Logistics Wind farm “BARD Offshore 1” in the North Sea *Final status: 320 systems, 1600 MW nominal output Wind turbine BARD 5.0 Weight of generator housing: approx. 280 t Blade weight: approx. 28.5 t Max. blade width: 5.98 m Rotor diameter: 122 m Weight of tower: approx. 450 t Wind farm "BARD Offshore 1" 80 wind power systems over approx. 60 km2* 400 MW nominal output Water depth approx. 40 m DEN- MARK GERMANY Büsum Wilhelmshaven Emden 12-mile zone North Sea NETHERLANDS Offshore wind farms planned approved under construction in operation Totalheightabovewater:152m North Sea coast in optimistic mood Source: dena, BARD Photos:BLGLogistics,BARD,Illustration:dpa-15180

trailer world Issue One 2012

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