Typisch bremisch Typically “Bremish”

Already back in 1990, Bremen Savings Bank was one of
the first banks in Germany to provide financing for wind
turbines. Its clients in this field include among others wpd
AG and Planet Energy GmbH, which plans wind farms and
photovoltaic installations.
of joint planning by WeserWind and the logistics company
BLG – but nevertheless, just an interim solution, says
Ronny Meyer from WAB. Having to handle the tripods
twice generates a great workload and increases the logistics
costs, he adds.
The large sums involved in the construction of offshore
wind farms result in very high insurance risks. For years
now, the insurance broker Nordwest Assekuranz has successfully
specialised in dealing with offshore wind farms,
while also providing insurance for the whole spectrum of
renewable energy sources. Another local facility is Trend
Research, a renowned institute for trend and market research
in the energy industry.
It’s an impressive cluster, but the competition is getting
tougher. The infrastructure will have to be improved to
keep companies in the state and to attract others to settle
here, says economic development expert Schnorrenberger.
“Logistics is a crucial cost factor in the construction
of offshore wind farms, accounting for 20 to 25 percent of
the overall costs”. An offshore wind farm with an output of
250 megawatts generates a flow of materials from the
coast to the site that weigh 50,000 tonnes. At the moment,
the range of solutions already being offered to the branch
in Bremerhaven for storage and handling the components
is still insufficient.
Offshore terminal for sea transport to the wind farm
One example is the huge tripods by WeserWind, which
have become one of the favourite photo motives in
Bremerhaven. They are produced in a huge production
unit on Lunedeich, right next to the Labrador port. A system
of rails brings the steel giants weighing 680 to 870
tonnes to the water’s edge where they are heaved onto a
pontoon to bring them through the port basin to the ABC
peninsula. They are stored here until an installation vessel
comes to bring them to their final site in the North Sea.
All in all, an extraordinary feat of logistics, that entails lots
The WAB spokesman and economic development expert
Schnorrenberger agree: Bremerhaven needs a special
handling terminal for wind turbines – the Offshore Ter -
minal Bremerhaven, OTB. The State of Bremen is willing
to invest 200 million Euro in the project, which should be
up and running by 2018 at the latest.
The State of Bremen pays special attention to wind, but
this is not all. By 2020, the Senate wants to cut CO 2 emissions
by 40 percent compared to 1990. The plan is to
convert the power and heat supply 100 percent to re -
newable energy sources by 2050. swb AG, formerly
Bremen Utilities, plays an important role in this project. It is
the largest energy supply company in the state and also
one of the largest employers with a workforce of just
about 2,500 employees. But the State of Bremen only has
one single share in the company belonging to the EWE
energy group from Oldenburg. As in many other federal
states, thought is currently being given to bringing it back
into municipal hand.
Fully energy supply: swb AG
swb AG supplies Bremen, Bremerhaven and parts of the
region with electricity, gas, drinking water and heat,
together with energy recovery services. The parent company
EWE also has a telecommunications division, EWE
TEL, which offers its services in Bremen under the swb
brand.
swb generates more than 1,000 megawatts of energy with
its conventional power stations in Hastedt, Mittelsbühren
and Findorff and an advanced gas and steam turbine
power station, together with a contribution also from alto-
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