The foundation stone has been laid for a new factory that will construct monopile foundations for offshore wind stations in German waters.
The facility will be located at Blexer Groden, part of the port of Nordeham, which is close to Germany’s leading offshore wind hub, Bremerhaven.
The factory is being built by Steelwind Nordenham, a subsidiary of German steel company, Dillinger Huette, and represents an investment of €135 million. Output is scheduled to begin from 2014 and to reach a full capacity of 100 monopiles per year in 2017.
Its construction is a further sign that the German offshore wind market is taking off, despite challenges surrounding the timing of export cable installation and grid connections.
Dillinger Huette has supplied steel for monopile foundations at several UK offshore wind farms, including Rhyl Flats, Walney and Thanet. Its commitment to the Steelwind Nordenham facility is one of two significant investment decisions it took last year. Its 2011 revenue was €2.8bn, with EBITDA of €304m.
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