MADRID, SPAIN - The Kaskasi wind energy project, a world first.
And why policymakers should care

According to the company, Daniel Reinhardt has spent the last three years managing the turbine installation of RWE’s Kaskasi offshore wind project, from initial sales to client handover. This project, the first of its kind, marks a turning point in the long-term sustainability of offshore wind power. 35 kilometers off the coast of the German island of Heligoland in the North Sea. Daniel and his crew of engineers and technicians have been working on a world first for the induworld-firste last few years. They installed the first commercial recyclable wind turbine blades here, and in July 2022 these turbines generated their first green energy output. The Kaskasi wind project, along with two other offshore sites Amrumbank West and Nordsee Ost, forms part of RWE’s Heligoland Cluster. Closing the gap between political ambitions and actual installation permits.

Towering overhead, 38 wind turbines each reach 191 meters high. A single blade spans 81 meters, almost the length of a football field. Kaskasi would operate at a nominal output of 327 megawatts and, in boost mode, at a maximum capacity of 342 megawatts. It alone would generate clean energy for up to 400,000 homes across Germany. But as big as the project may be, it is small compared with Germany’s ambitious plans for offshore wind energy.

According to the company, Until 2030, the government here wants to reach the target of at least 30 gigawatts – of which it wants to achieve about half, 15 gigawatts, in the decades’ last two years alone. Just over eight gigawatts, however, had been installed at the end of 2022. In other words, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) like Siemens Gamesa need to build about 90 projects of the size of Kaskasi in less than ten years. That’s a steep climb considering that only a small portion of offshore projects are currently in the hands of developers – and even fewer could be found in the order books of OEMs. But manufacturers and suppliers of key components and raw materials, as well as ports and ships for installations, need to invest massively. They have to prepare today for tomorrow’s unparalleled installation additions. Therefore, Siemens Gamesa and the European wind industry are asking policymakers to create conditions for investment security. Market volumes need to be made transparent and close the gap between political ambitions and actual installation permits. That is why manufacturers also need concrete plans for grid expansions to deliver offshore wind energy ashore.

Source: Siemens Gamesa