DanTysk offshore wind farm formally opened

German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Sigmar Gabriel, Swedish Minister for Enterprise and Innovation Mikael Damberg, Hamburg Mayor Olaf Scholz and Torsten Albig, Prime Minister of the State of Schleswig-Holstein, joined Magnus Hall, President and CEO of Vattenfall, and Dr Florian Bieberbach, CEO of SWM, in Hamburg today to celebrate the formal opening of the DanTysk offshore wind farm.

Located 70 kilometres west of Sylt Island, the DanTysk offshore wind farm is the first infrastructure project jointly implemented by Vattenfall and SWM as part of the energy transition in Germany. Vattenfall holds a 51% stake in DanTysk Offshore GmbH, which is responsible for construction and operation, while SWM holds 49%. The site comprises a total of 80 Siemens wind turbines in the 3.6 megawatt (MW) class with a total installed capacity of 288 MW. The capital investment is more than EUR 1 billion. DanTysk will generate climate-neutral power equivalent to the annual consumption of more than 400,000 average households. Offshore construction started in February 2013.

Vattenfall and Stadtwerke München (SWM) are continuing their established partnership in the construction of offshore wind farms in the German North Sea. In August 2014 the responsible committees of the two companies gave the green light for the construction of the Sandbank offshore wind farm, which will also have a capacity of 288 MW and will be built near DanTysk in the summer of 2015. The capital investment for Sandbank is roughly EUR 1.2 billion.

Quotes on the occasion of the formal commissioning of DanTysk:

Sigmar Gabriel, German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs: "Last year we created the necessary investment security with EEC 2014, which led to a real breakthrough in the development of offshore wind power. By 2030 there should be 15 gigawatts of installed capacity, amounting to a capital investment of several billion Euros in wind farms and infrastructure, with high added value for Germany. Together with the DanTysk wind farm, by the end of this year Germany will generate green power from more than 3,000 megawatts of installed offshore capacity. That is a real boost for the energy transition."

Mikael Damberg, Swedish Minister for Enterprise and Innovation:” The investments in DanTysk and Sandbank reflect Vattenfall’s continuing move towards a greater emphasis on renewables. This is in line with the Swedish Government’s high ambitions in sustainable business, not least for Vattenfall, which should be a leader in the transition to an environmentally sustainable energy system.”

Olaf Scholz, Mayor of Hamburg: “Offshore wind is the only renewable energy source with base load character which is available roughly 340 days per year – and good to forecast. The Northern German States are fully committed to further support the offshore industry in Germany. They are determined to make use of this high potential in terms of added value, jobs, innovations and export and they will create a framework for a sustainable growth of this industry sector.”

Torsten Albig, Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein: "The DanTysk wind farm will help Germany meet its future climate goals. During a visit to the wind farm last year, I was impressed by how much effort is going into driving the quick expansion of offshore wind power. With today's formal opening of the wind farm, another part of the energy transition has become reality."

Lars G Nordström, Chairman of the Vattenfall Board of Directors: “Vattenfall’s owner, the Swedish state, has given the company a clear assignment to generate a market rate of return by operating a commercial energy business that enables the company to be among the leaders in developing environmentally sustainable energy production. As the Chairman of Vattenfall’s Board of Directors, I am committed to do everything to enable Vattenfall to be among the leaders of the energy transition. I have great confidence that together we can make the change happen. Today’s inauguration of the wind farm DanTysk is a powerful signal for that.”

Dr Florian Bieberbach, CEO of SWM: "For us and our stakeholder, the City of Munich, today is a special day. We have already implemented many projects with renewable energy, and in each of these we have played a pioneering role. With today's official commissioning we add the first finalized offshore wind farm to our portfolio. In terms of capital investment as well as installed capacity, DanTysk is our largest completed renewable energy project to date. Thanks to excellent cooperation with Vattenfall and Siemens, our expansion campaign for renewable energy is taking a big step forward – from May our renewable assets, including SWM’s DanTysk share, will be feeding enough green power into the grid to meet the needs of all private households, underground, tram and electric vehicles in Munich."

Magnus Hall, President and CEO of Vattenfall: “Offshore wind has become an ever more important energy source for our company. Vattenfall is today the second largest operator of offshore wind in the world. Together, we are on our way to transform the energy system. As part of this ambition, DanTysk is an important milestone: for Germany, for Europe – and definitely for us at Vattenfall.”

Gunnar Groebler, Head of Business Area Wind at Vattenfall: "We are very pleased that we have now brought the first large offshore project in Germany to a successful conclusion together with SWM. I wish to thank the project team, all employees and all companies involved in this project for an outstanding team achievement. With DanTysk and the affiliated Sandbank project currently under construction, we are making a significant contribution to the further expansion of renewable energy in Germany and consistently implementing our growth strategy in the wind sector."

Note to editorial staff:
Graphics and current images of the DanTysk offshore wind farm can be downloaded for free at: http://www.dantysk.de/presse-service/pressefotos.html. Further information on the offshore wind farm can also be found on the project website www.dantysk.de.

Contacts for additional information:

Vattenfall GmbH
Lutz Wiese, Press Officer, Tel.: +49 (0)30 81 82 23 32, Email: lutz.wiese@vattenfall.de

Stadtwerke München GmbH
Bettina Hess, Press Officer, Tel.: +49 (0)89 23 61 50 42, Email: presse@swm.de

The DanTysk wind power turbine includes 80 windmills in the 3.6 megawatt (MW) class from manufacturer Siemens, with a height totalling 150 metres from sea level to the tip of the rotor blade. DanTysk is spread across an area of 70 square kilometres (around 7,000 football pitches) in the German exclusive economic zone (EEZ) on the border with Danish territorial waters and has an installed capacity of 288 megawatts (MW). Offshore construction of the foundations started in February 2013, and erection of the first wind turbines commenced in mid-April 2014. The 80 wind turbines were installed during a time frame of about four months. DanTysk is a joint venture of Vattenfall (51%) and Stadtwerke München (49%).

About Vattenfall
Vattenfall is a leading European energy company and operates over 1,000 wind turbines with a total installed capacity of about 1,900 megawatts (MW). The company generated approximately four billion kilowatt-hours of wind power in 2014. In terms of pure figures, this amount of power is enough to meet the annual electricity needs of around one million average German households. Since 2002, Vattenfall has invested more than five billion euros in the expansion of land-based and offshore wind power.

About Stadtwerke München
Stadtwerke München (SWM) is one of Germany's biggest energy providers and infrastructure companies. By 2025, SWM aims to generate enough green power in its own plants to supply all of Munich, which would make Munich the first city in the world with over one million inhabitants to have reached this target. Wind power will play a significant role in achieving this.