German utility RWE Power buys 70 MW
German energy major RWE Power may have hardly made a dent in its home wind power market but it is investing EUR 100 million in the construction of two wind farms in Poland. The utility is joining forces with Polish Energy Partners (PEP) to develop the projects at Tychowo in west Pomerania and Suwalki in Masuria. They will have a combined capacity of 70 MW. Two project companies will be acquired to take the projects forward, with RWE Power holding a 70% stake in them and PEP holding the rest. Both projects will use 2 MW turbines, with 16 units installed at Tychowo and 19 at Suwalki. The German utility's move into Polish wind power is to enable its Polish subsidiary, RWE Stoen, to "meet its obligations to purchase power from renewables sources," says the company. RWE Stoen is one of the major energy suppliers in Poland. Under the agreement with PEP, RWE Stoen will receive the green certificates associated with the electricity generated by the two wind farms under a 15 year contract. Commissioning of the two projects is slated for 2009/10. PEP, meanwhile, is aiming for 300 MW of installed wind capacity by 2010 followed by a further 400 MW. Its only completed wind project to date, commissioned in December, is the 22 MW Puck development of Gamesa 2 MW turbines. PEP claims to have 500 MW of wind energy development in the pipeline under a co-operation agreement with Polish wind developer EPA. It expects to have 74 MW of that in operation by 2009 and a further 118 MW in 2010.