The German energy company that owns 90% of the 108MW Riffgat project has established an offshore wind consultancy business and has been advising on a planned 2.5GW South Korean offshore wind farm.
Headquartered in northern Germany, EWE is a shareholder in the 60MW Alpha Ventus project, which was Germany's first offshore wind farm. It is also the primary developer behind Riffgat, currently under construction and due to come online this summer.
Last year, EWE created a new company called EWE Offshore Service and Solutions (EWE OSS). Its remit is to act as a consultant "in the construction and operation of offshore wind farms" to both internal and external clients. A focus on the latter is most likely, since EWE's has no current plans to develop more offshore wind farms of its own or in partnership with other developers. Instead, it will focus on building more onshore wind capacity and acting as an offshore wind consultant, it says.
EWE OSS' offshore wind clients, thus far, appear to include Trianel, which is developing the Borkum West 2 project, and an unnamed South Korean client with plans for 2.5GW by 2019. This project would begin with a 100MW "test field", notes EWE.
Interestingly, EWE's 2012 annual report acknowledges that part of the Riffgat site is within a sea area subject to a transboundary dispute between Germany and the Netherlands, "but which the German authorities believe to be fully within German territory". The report adds: "Diplomatic negotiations are currently ongoing between both countries, with talks being characterised by a willingness to find a solution. To date there has been no interference with the construction site by the Netherlands".
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