Wind Farm Operational in Germany Baltic Sea

The first large scale wind farm in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Germany came online yesterday.

It took three years to build Baltic 1, a 48.3 MW farm that’s 16 kilometers offshore. It will supply electricity to 50,000 homes. Siemens supplied the 21 turbines, each of which is 410 feet tall.

The utility EnBW has plans for three more wind farms in the North Sea and Baltic Sea, for a total 1,200 MW. 

The next phase of construction starts next year – a larger, 288 MW wind farm called Baltic 2. Germany’s goal is for 10,000 MW of offshore wind installed by 2020. The country has 27,214 MW of land-based wind capacity.

Last year, Germany’s first offshore wind farm came online in the North Sea, the 60 MW Alpha Ventus project.