Danish Base for German Offshore Wind Farm Service Workers

EnBW Baltic 2 one of Germany’s largest offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea will soon be serviced from the Danish port of Klintholm on the island of Møn, EnBW said Tuesday. 

The company has so far had its service team of up to 25 people travel from Rostock to a hotel vessel close to the EnBW Baltic 2 offshore wind farm. 

A hotel and a service building are now being constructed in Klintholm [Denmark], from where the EnBW workers will be ferried to the wind farm in the mornings and evenings during their two-week duty roster. 

The hotel to accommodate the service team is scheduled to open in August. The service building in the port area is scheduled for completion as early as July when the first spare parts will be taken into storage there. Both buildings are rented out under contract for at least ten years, thus ensuring a long-term commitment.

“The proximity to our wind farms offers us unique opportunities here,” said Kent Hougaard of EnBW Offshore Services Danmark (EOS).

The 80 Siemens (SIEMENS.NS) SWT-3.6-120 wind turbines have been supplying some 340,000 households with renewable electricity since 2015. 

Located in German territorial waters with depths ranging from 23 to 44 meters, the wind farm is about 40 km east of Møns Klint, close to the meeting point of the Danish, Swedish, and German maritime borders.,

"Klintholm in Denmark is nevertheless better situated for servicing the turbines than any German port. EnBW, their operator, will consequently be relocating a large part of its operating team from Rostock to Møn," the German offshore wind farm firm said.

"We expect noticeable savings and synergies as the journey from Klintholm harbour only takes just over an hour," explained Kent Hougaard. Baltic 2 continues to be controlled, however, by remote data link from the control room in Barhöft, Mecklenburg.

For most offshore wind farms, service teams are flown in by helicopter either on a daily basis or for two-week stays on a hotel vessel. 

“With a trip time of only just over an hour, accommodation on land is far more cost-effective,” explains Kent Hougaard. Klintholm is consequently ideal as a service hub for wind farms in this part of the Baltic Sea.

"The German technicians continue to be ferried from Rostock for their two-week tours of duty. From August, however, rather than disembarking onto a hotel vessel, they will be brought to the idyllic Klintholm on the Danish island of Møn. They will commute from the port on Sun Light and Moon Light, two crew transfer vessels (CTVs) chartered from a Dutch shipping company," EnBW said.