Supply agreement signed for repowering of Windpark Ihlow wind farm

‘We are pleased to have been able to sign this supply agreement with ENERCON before the year comes to an end, and despite the difficult times we find ourselves in’, said WPI Managing Director Kai Jürgens at the contract signing. ‘The investment volume is in the high two-figure million region. The product is absolutely competitive and prevailed against the competition on the basis of objective criteria. It is important to us that regional partners cooperate and that the majority of the added value is created locally, also in the interest of all of the ENERCON employees living in the municipality of Ihlow and the surrounding area.’

Benjamin Seifert, ENERCON Regional Head of the Central and Northern Europe Region (CNE), added: ‘The renewal of Windpark Ihlow is something of a lighthouse project for us. The repowering of existing wind farms is a crucial element in the further expansion of onshore wind energy to implement the energy transition in Germany. The land and infrastructure are already available and wind energy is accepted in the region of the existing wind farms, making it possible to speed up project execution. The consistent use of the repowering potential in our country can act as a booster for onshore expansion.’

‘The fact that we are able to carry out a showcase project like this in our home region with a customer who has been there since day one is something we are especially pleased about’, Benjamin Seifert goes on to say. ‘We have shared a trust-based cooperation for many years, and the same attitude towards climate protection and the energy transition. We are happy to be able to continue working together in this close manner on this repowering project in Ihlow.’

The contract signing marks the laying of a key cornerstone, which allows repowering of the Ihlow wind farm to leave the planning phase and enter realisation. Construction work will begin next year with the creation of the roads and crane platforms, and from late summer 2023 the first foundations for the new wind energy converters will be built. The installation of the wind energy converters will follow from 2024. Commissioning is planned for the summer of 2024. The 26 existing E-66 WECs will be gradually dismantled as construction progresses. The plan is for dismantlement to have also been completed by summer 2024.

‘The cooperation between the two strong partners ENERCON and Windpark Ihlow has made it possible – with substantial efforts by all parties involved – to go against the trend of increasing financing and construction costs and generate additional renewable energy from an existing wind field’, Kai Jürgens sums up. ‘26 legacy WECs will be replaced by 14 new E-138 EP3 E2 models. The wind farm yield will increase from 80,500 MWh to 161,000 MWh per year. This amounts to double the energy yield with half the amount of wind energy converters! Once repowering has been completed, we will be able to supply 45,000 households with sustainably generated energy from our wind farm.’