May saw the start of the construction of the German Merkur wind farm, which will be situated north-east of Schiermonnikoog or 45 km north of the German Wadden Island Borkum. The project represents an investment of 1.6 billion Euro. GE Renewable Energy – Offshore wind will supply the wind turbines for this park and will take care of its maintenance over the next 15 years. This requires support from local businesses in the area of logistics, technical repairs, safety and personnel training.
The German Merkur wind farm will have a capacity of 396 MW and will be just north of the northern Dutch Wadden Islands. GE will be positioning 66 Haliade 6 MW offshore wind turbines and the construction, as well as the operation & maintenance, will be organised from Eemshaven over the coming years. In other words, there are plenty of opportunities for cooperation with and orders for Dutch companies.
Supply Chain Meeting 23 May
On 23 May 2017, Northern Netherlands Offshore Wind (NNOW) is organising a Supply Chain Meeting at Groningen Airport Eelde. The supplier of the Merkur wind farm, GE Renewable Energy, has been invited as a guest speaker. The introductory presentation about GE (NL) and the Merkur project will be delivered by Ward Gommeren, Managing Director – Regional Senior Sales Director WOS – BENELUX. Alan Thompson will give a presentation on GE Renewable Energy – Offshore Wind O&M.