Statkraft’s First Wind Farm in Germany Will Generate 36 MW of Energy

Norwegian state-owned hydropower company Statkraft is set to build its very first wind farm in Germany on a 67-hectare forest area in Bramwald in northern Hesse. By 2025, the so-called Oedelsheim wind farm is expected to comprise 6 turbines which will generate 36 MW of energy, adequate to supply 20,000 households with wind power each year and save 54,000 tons of CO2.

The Oedelsheim farm is the latest initiative among a host of announcements made by Statkarft recently with regards to renewable energy projects that it either plans to build soon or has completed already. In January this year, the company announced that it was exploring project opportunities in Norway with Aker Offshore Wind. In April, came the revelation that it will build three wind farms worth 102 MW in Chile and that its second energy storage project in Ireland has been completed. Apart from Norway, Sweden, the UK and Ireland, the company is currently expanding its project development business in Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.

For its first project housed in Germany, Statkraft began wind measurements in April this year, which are planned to go on for at least the next 12 months. The species protection surveys will likely make their first results available by the end of 2021 and present them next year. The residents of the Wesertal and Uslar communities will be given the opportunity to make financial contribution to the wind farm with a citizen wind turbine and an additional subordinated loan. As allowed by the EEG (German Renewable Energy Sources Act), the company will offer the municipalities the maximum amount of €0.02 a kilowatt-hour generated. It claims that this additional revenue for the municipalities can possibly amount to 160,000 euros per year.

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Statkraft states that it is cognisant of the environmental cost of its project and is therefore planning the wind turbines largely on damaged and tree-free areas. It also intends to compensate for the loss of forest areas through reforestation and forest development. Claus Urbanke, Head of Wind & Solar in Germany, said, “With the Oedelsheim wind farm, we are creating the basis for our market entry in Germany,” adding, “The project is an important step in achieving our Group strategy of developing 8,000 megawatts of wind and solar energy worldwide by 2025.”