Power generation with high availability and without using fossil resources means almost zero emission of CO2: Off the coast there is ample space and wind resource for so-called off-shore wind parks. This poses new technological challenges, since the systems have to be built and operate reliably far from the coast, where ocean depths can reach 45 meters (about 150 feet).

 

In Germany, E.ON Energie will carry out several pilot and demonstration projects step by step on the North Sea and Baltic coasts. Our plant in Cuxhaven is one of the first to demonstrate the 5 MW output of a single wind turbine and it will initially stand a few meters off the coast. Another planned project is our participation in the Borkum wind park, which will be constructed in 2008 with a power output of 60 MW. By 2011, E.ON will have invested in 500 MW of off-shore wind energy in this water depths.

 

E.ON UK’s off-shore wind park at Scroby Sands in the North Sea was commissioned in March 2004 and can generate enough energy to supply over 36,000 homes (~60MWe), saving the emission of over 65,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, nearly 600 tonnes of sulphur dioxide and nearly 200 tonnes of nitrogen oxides. E.ON UK is working, among other things, on the construction of a 1,000 MW wind park called the "London Array" in the United Kingdom. The offshore wind farm Rödsand 2, currently being constructed in Denmark, will have a power output of 200 MW (part owned by E.ON Sverige).

 

The total installed offshore wind capacity of E.ON will be approximately 1200 MW in 2011.