The European Investment Bank and nine other institutions are providing a total of €570 million to build the Arcadis Ost 1 wind farm — one of the most innovative wind farm projects in Europe — with EIB funding amounting to €150 million. Also contributing are KBC, Belfius, Helaba, KfW, IPEX-Bank, Rabobank, Société Général, ING and EKF.

The EIB loan will benefit from a guarantee from the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the main pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe. Offshore installation works are due to begin in 2022, and the wind farm, which will generate power for the equivalent of 290 000 households, is expected to be fully operational in 2023.

“The EIB is proud to have acted as the anchor investor together with EFSI for this innovative project,” said EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle, who is responsible for environment, climate action and the circular economy and has oversight of EIB operations in Germany. “Offshore wind farms are a cornerstone of the EU Green Deal to help reach the goal of a net-zero-emissions economy in Europe.”

EU Commissioner for the Economy Paolo Gentiloni said: “To reach our goal of climate neutrality by 2050, we need to massively expand our use of renewable energy sources. This new offshore wind farm, supported by the Investment Plan for Europe and the European Investment Bank, is an important step in this direction. With its innovative, more efficient technologies, it will help to deliver enough clean energy for 290 000 households, providing a major boost to the green transition in Germany.”

Windpark Arcadis Ost 1 is the first wind farm to be built entirely by using swimming platforms

The Belgian wind farm specialist Parkwind will use new, entirely floating platforms to erect the wind turbines in the Baltic Sea northeast of the island of Rügen. The new technology is expected to be more efficient on difficult seabeds than the jack-up vessels that have normally been used.

So far, Parkwind has implemented wind farm projects exclusively in Belgium, with this German wind farm being the company’s first international project. After winning the competition for this project in 2018, Parkwind obtained its permit from the government of the federal state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in March 2021.

source: EIB