New Offshore Wind Market: Wpd Pushes Ahead With Construction Of Offshore Wind Farms In Romania

Bremen, Germany - Wpd Offshore is planning the country's first offshore projects off the Black Sea coast in Romania. To this end, Wpd has founded its own project companies and at the end of July 2021 became the first company to officially apply for the development of offshore wind farms in the Black Sea.

Specifically, this currently involves the development and construction of the Black Sea 1 (500 MW) and Black Sea 2 (approx. 1,400 MW) projects. Based on extensive experience in the development of wind energy projects worldwide, Wpd Offshore believes it is well positioned to initiate all the necessary steps and processes that would make Romania the first country on the Black Sea to realise the construction of offshore wind farms. In the future, this would also open up the possibility of exporting surplus energy to neighbouring countries.

Furthermore, as in other regions, the conversion of energy systems to renewable energy in Romania promotes local and regional opportunities for value creation as well as job creation. In particular, benefits will accrue to those industries that become relevant in the development, construction and operation phases of the projects, says Wpd. "We are convinced that by developing our offshore projects we are making an important contribution to set Romania's pioneering role in the expansion of renewables in the region," said Achim Berge Olsen, Wpd's board member responsible for wind offshore.

Wpd has been active in Romania since 2009 and, in addition to the two offshore projects, has further projects for wind onshore with a total capacity of 1,300 MW in development. The company is now taking the next step by establishing a presence in the Romanian market for offshore wind energy.

Wpd develops and operates onshore and offshore wind farms as well as solar parks. Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Bremen, the company is active in 28 countries worldwide and has realised wind energy projects with around 2,400 wind turbines and a capacity of 5,150 MW. The project pipeline includes onshore wind energy projects with a total of 12,300 MW, 13,800 MW offshore wind energy and 1,650 MWp solar energy.

Source: IWR Online, Feb 02 2022