Wind Energy

OffshOre #2 | The Magazine
MeerwInd – a fInancIal InvestOr wIth the wInd In hIs saIls
“This location has charm”
Offshore magazine: What motivates
a financial investor like
blackstone to invest in offshore
wind power?
Jens assheuer: in the first
instance the private equity industry
is interested in the size of
the investment. We have a project
volume of more than one billion
euros here, with an equity capital
requirement of several hundred
million euros. These are the usual
orders of magnitude for private
equity firms like Blackstone.
What made you choose, of all
things, one of the most ambitious
projects? 400 MW, 80 km
from the shore – couldn’t you
have found an easier project?
apart from the nordergründe
wind farm by energiekontor,
there are hardly any small and
nearshore projects in germany.
nor are these smaller projects
looking for equity. apart from
that, the equity capital requirements
for such projects are
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Just in from northwestern Germany, JEnS ASShEUER arrives at Berlin’s central railway
station in a relaxed mood. A meeting has been cancelled in Berlin, which means we can
look for somewhere quiet in the nearby Mitte district to have the interview. Over cups of
tea and mini satay skewers, the managing director of WindMW in Bremerhaven explains
the offshore plans of his majority shareholder Blackstone from New York.
too small for an investor like
Blackstone. So the question
never arose.
What are the plus points of
Meerwind?
Water depths of 22 to 26 metres
are very moderate in comparison
with 40 or 45 metres in other
projects – this is reflected in
the design and the costs of the
foundation structures. We are
only 12 nautical miles away from
heligoland, which means we can
carry out servicing and repairs
from the island. Our reaction
times are less than an hour. We
would have to allow five to six
hours by boat from the mainland.
This location has charm.
how many installers and
technicians will you station on
heligoland?
We want to operate the wind farm
ourselves from the outset and
also carry out maintenance and
repair work ourselves. We won’t
know the exact number of techni-
cians until our maintenance and
service plan is finalised.
You compared a large number of
projects before the purchase in
July 2008. how do they differ
from each other?
Because the feed-in tariff under
the german Renewable energy
Sources act (eeg) varies according
to the distance from the
shore and water depth, there is
no longer any easy distinction
between good and bad projects.
The eeg does a good job of
evening that out. The status of
project development was more
important to us. if you buy a
project today, the earliest you
can build in 2012. The investors
have to come up with significant
supplier contracts and financial
resources before transpower,
formerly e.On netz, will lay the
grid connection in the north Sea.
This work has a lead time of up
to 36 months. The timeline is the
most critical point.
MeerwInd Ost/sÜd OffshOre wInd farMs
The Meerwind Ost/Süd offshore wind farms (Meerwind) are situated 12 nautical miles (23 kilometres)
to the north of heligoland and 50 miles (80 kilometres) from the north German coast. WindMW, based
in Bremerhaven, is responsible for the planning. Blackstone has an 80 percent stake in the company
and Windland Energiezeugung owns 20 percent. The project was granted approval by the German
Federal Maritime and hydrographic Agency (BSh) in hamburg on 16 May 2007. The nordsee Ost (Essent/RWE
Innogy and Amrumbank West (E.On) wind farms are situated directly next in the north to
Meerwind. Their shared power transmission line will be routed via the Brunsbüttel connection point.
The Meerwind project is formally divided into two wind farms. In each case 40 turbines with 3.6 or
5 MW are to be constructed in Meerwind Ost and Meerwind Süd. The project is being funded via a
project financing model. WindMW engaged KfW-IPEX and dexia to prepare the project financing.
What is the range of annual full
load hours that can be attained
and what is your estimate for
Meerwind?
The equivalent full load hours are
in the region of 3,800.
since blackstone’s involvement
was announced in summer
2008, nothing more has been
heard about the project. What
stage is the technical planning
currently at?
There have already been talks
and negotiations with the main
suppliers, and the plans for
maintenance and operation have
progressed well. We have also
begun preparing everything to
satisfy e.On’s grid connection
conditions and hence secure a
promise of a grid connection.
Which wind turbines will be
used? Originally 3.6-MW turbines
were planned.
We are investigating both a 288
MW and a 400 MW option.
do you see any big differences
between manufacturers?
The turbine manufacturers have
not yet come as far as they should
have done. They have not ramped
up capacities sufficiently yet and
their sub-suppliers also have not
made sufficient investments. Besides
that, the turbines’ test run
times are too short. One to three
years of operational experience
is not much for a technology that
is supposed to withstand more
than 20 years of extreme weather
conditions.