Bremen, 30 April 2024 – Energiekontor AG (“Energiekontor”), a leading German project developer and operator of wind and solar parks listed in the General Standard, has reached the financial close stage of the Würselen repowering wind park project in the district of Aachen in North Rhine-Westphalia. The project, which is now ready for construction, will be included in the company's own portfolio upon commissioning.
Energiekontor received a building permit for the project in autumn 2023, enabling it to successfully participate in the renewables tender by the Bundesnetzagentur, the German Federal Network Agency, in November 2023. The Würselen repowering project has since progressed to financial close. Now that the loan for the project has been approved, work can begin on dismantling the existing and constructing the new wind park.
At the site of the former Aachen coal mining area, three installed GE wind turbines, each with a generation capacity of 1.5 megawatts, are to be replaced by three new, more powerful wind turbines manufactured by Vestas, each with a nominal power of 6.0 megawatts. The new V150 turbines have a hub height of roughly 125 metres and a rotor diameter of approximately 150 metres. By more than quadrupling the total generation capacity to around 18 megawatts once complete, the repowered park’s forecast electricity yield will increase to more than 41 million kilowatt-hours a year – enough to supply some 12,500 households in Germany with renewable electricity and save more than 31,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.
Energiekontor planned and constructed the Würselen wind park around 20 years ago and sold it via limited partnership shares. Once the new wind turbines are commissioned, Energiekontor plans to incorporate the repowered wind park completely into its own park portfolio and thus expand the total generation capacity of the Group's own portfolio by additional 18 megawatts.
"With this second success in a very short time, we are once again demonstrating our expertise in the repowering sector - we owe this above all to the dedicated commitment of our experienced employees, who made this possible," says Peter Szabo, CEO of Energiekontor AG. “Two German solar parks have also been under construction since February 2024. Together with the wind park projects Würselen in North Rhine-Westphalia and Oederquart in Lower Saxony, for which we recently also reached financial close, we are now constructing more than 100 megawatts intended for our own park portfolio. In addition to our important project development and sales segment, we are thus expanding our remaining two segments and providing a stable foundation for further sustainable growth."
Following the last announcement on the financial close of the Oederquart repowering wind park project dated 26 April 2024, Energiekontor has been granted planning permission by the British authorities for a further wind park project in in the west of Scotland. The approved wind park project covers a total generation capacity of around 86 megawatts with an additional battery storage capacity of five megawatts, the largest generation capacity of a single project for which Energiekontor has ever obtained a permit. For Energiekontor, this project marks the second planning permission for a wind park project with more than 50 megawatts in the United Kingdom.
Energiekontor AG’s interim report on the first quarter of 2024 will be published on 13 May 2024 and will be available on the website at https://www.energiekontor.de/en/investor-relations/financial-reports.html.
About Energiekontor AG
For over 30 years, Energiekontor has stood for a solid business policy and extensive experience in renewable energies. Founded in Bremerhaven, Germany, in 1990, the company is among the pioneers in its industry and is now one of Germany’s leading project developers. Its core business ranges from the planning and construction to the operational management of wind and solar parks in Germany and abroad. In addition, Energiekontor operates around 40 wind and solar parks with a nominal power of around 390 megawatts in its own portfolio. Energiekontor also plays a pioneering role in economic terms and aims to realise the first wind and solar parks in all target markets at market prices as quickly as possible, independently of state subsidies.
Along with its headquarters in Bremen, Germany, Energiekontor has offices in Bremerhaven, Hagen im Bremischen, Aachen, Augsburg, Berlin, Berlin-Spandau, Potsdam and Hildesheim. The company also has branch offices in England, Scotland, Portugal, France and the United States.
Since being established, Energiekontor has a proud track record of realising more than 160 wind and solar park projects with a total generation capacity of around 1.4 gigawatts. This corresponds to an investment volume of more than 2.0 billion euros (as at 31 December 2023).
Energiekontor AG (WKN 531350/ISIN DE0005313506/General Standard) is listed in the SDAX and the TecDAX of the German Stock Exchange in Frankfurt and can be traded on all German stock markets.
Contact
Julia Pschribülla
Head of Investor & Public Relations
Phone: +49 (0)421-3304-126
Email: ir@energiekontor.com
Energiekontor AG
Mary-Somerville-Strasse 5
28359 Bremen
Germany
Phone: +49 (0)421-3304-0
Fax: +49 (0)421-3304-444
Email: info@energiekontor.de
Web: www.energiekontor.de/en/index.html