E.ON is to build another offshore wind farm in German waters. The company has decided to move forward with the Arkona project in the Baltic Sea. The wind farm is expected to be fully operational in 2019. Statoil will have a 50 per cent stake and will be involved in the project from the start.
E.ON will have responsibility for building and operating the wind farm. Investments in the project will be in excess of € 1.2 billion. Arkona is located in the Baltic Sea, 35 kilometers northeast of Rügen Island and will have an installed capacity of 385MW. It will consist of 60 six-megawatt direct drive Siemens turbines. The turbine towers will be mounted on monopile foundations installed at depths of 23 to 37 meters. For at least the next 25 years the logistics base for the construction and subsequent operation of Arkona offshore wind farm will be the Port of Sassnitz in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Up to 400 people will help build the wind farm during the construction phase. Once in service, the wind farm will create up to 50 permanent jobs for highly skilled staff in operations, administration, and maintenance as well as, indirectly, another 100 jobs for external service providers. Siemens and E.ON will be jointly responsible for service to the wind turbines for an initial two year period.