REpower is a
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
wind turbineA wind turbine is a rotating machine which converts the kinetic energy of wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used directly by machinery, such as a pump or grinding stones, the machine is usually called a windmill...
company founded in 2001. Its product range comprises several types of turbines with rated outputs of between 1.5 and 5 megawatts. It created the world's largest wind turbine, the 5M, in 2005. This has since been superseded by the
Enercon E-126The Enercon E-126 is the largest turbine model build to date, manufactured by the German wind turbine producer Enercon. The first turbines of this model were installed in Emden, Germany....
.
REpower's 1.5-megawatt MD 70/77 range of turbines is one of the most successful turbines in its class. In 2002 REpower launched its 2-megawatt MM 70/82/92 range, currently in series production.
The REpower 5M 5-megawatt turbine is currently one of the largest wind turbine in the world.
REpower is a
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
wind turbineA wind turbine is a rotating machine which converts the kinetic energy of wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used directly by machinery, such as a pump or grinding stones, the machine is usually called a windmill...
company founded in 2001. Its product range comprises several types of turbines with rated outputs of between 1.5 and 5 megawatts. It created the world's largest wind turbine, the 5M, in 2005. This has since been superseded by the
Enercon E-126The Enercon E-126 is the largest turbine model build to date, manufactured by the German wind turbine producer Enercon. The first turbines of this model were installed in Emden, Germany....
.
REpower's 1.5-megawatt MD 70/77 range of turbines is one of the most successful turbines in its class. In 2002 REpower launched its 2-megawatt MM 70/82/92 range, currently in series production.
The REpower 5M 5-megawatt turbine is currently one of the largest wind turbine in the world. It has a rated output of 5 megawatts and a rotor diameter of 126.5 meters. The target market is
offshore wind farm. The prototype was assembled in the autumn of 2004 in Brunsbüttel, located in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. In August 2006 the first 5M model was erected within the project Beatrice Wind Farm. Meanwhile a 6 MW version with the same rotor diameter is operational in Elhöft, Germany.
Through subsidiaries and associates as well as licensing agreements, REpower is present in all major growth markets for wind energy in Europe: France, Portugal, Italy, Spain, the UK and Greece, in addition to promising overseas markets such as Japan, China, India and Australia.
Currently Repower is developing 3.3MW and 6MW wind turbines.
In May 2007 after efforts by its largest shareholder
ArevaAREVA is a French public multinational industrial conglomerate that is mainly known for nuclear power; it also has interests in other energy projects. It was created on 3 September 2001, by the merger of Framatome and Cogema...
, to take a controlling interest in the company, a series of protracted bidding resulted in not Areva, but Suzlon Energy of India acquiring the majority shareholding in REpower for EUR 1.3 billion. Suzlon subsequently strengthened its position by buying the remaining 30% Areva stake in June 2008 for more than EUR 350 million. Suzlon's total investment of approximately
US$The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents .The U.S...
1.6 billion gives it a holding of 66%, with the next largest shareholder being Martifer of Portugal. Areva went on to purchase the majority holding in 5MW rival, Multibrid .
Locations in Germany
REpower maintain their global operating headquarters and administrative centre at Hamburg. Research and Design facilities are located at
RendsburgRendsburg is a town on the Kiel Canal in the northeastern part of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the capital of the Kreis of Rendsburg-Eckernförde. As of 2006, it had a population of 28,476.-History:...
, Schleswig Holstein, close to the original manufacturing plant and test centre in Husum. A new assembly hall was opened in
BremerhavenBremerhaven is the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a federal state of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...
in 2008 specifically aimed at the future offshore market. This facility was built adjacent to a new 460m long joint venture blade assembly plant, where REpower has a majority holding . A further manufacturing and service centre exists at Trampe near Berlin, and a secondary design office at Osnabrück.
Offshore Wind
REpower have ambitions to become a major supplier to the offshore wind industry. As well as the two units installed in the Beatrice demonstrator project in the
Moray FirthThe Moray Firth is a roughly triangular inlet of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of Scotland...
, the 5M unit is currently being used for Phase I of the
Thornton BankThe Thorntonbank Wind Farm was built by C-Power and consists of six REpower offshore wind turbines of 5 MW capacity on the Thornton sandbank, 28 km off the Belgian coast, in water ranging from 12 to 27 metres deep. A 37 km 150 kV sea cable connects the Thorntonbank Wind Farm to the shore.The first...
project off the Belgian coast, where the first six of a proposed 60 units are being installed in the summer of 2008 . Further projects include Nordergründe in the Weser estuary off the coast of Bremerhaven, where a turbine supply agreement has been signed to supply 18 5M units . The 5M is also expect to be deployed as part of the
Alpha Ventus demonstrator in the German North Sea, where six 5M units are proposed to be installed in 2009. In anticipation of future turbine supply shortages,
RWE InnogyRWE AG , is a German electric power and natural gas public utility company based in Essen. Through its various subsidiaries, the energy company contributes electricity and gas to more than 20 million electricity customers and 10 million gas customers, principally in Europe...
signed a memorandum of understanding with REpower for supply of 250 offshore units up to 2016 .
See also
- List of wind turbine manufacturers
- List of offshore wind farms
- Vestas
Vestas Wind Systems is a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines, currently the largest in the world with a 28% market share...
- Gamesa Corporación Tecnológica
Gamesa Corporación Tecnológica , is a manufacturing company mainly concerned with the fabrication of wind turbines and the construction of wind farms....
- Wind Prospect
Wind Prospect undertakes all aspects of wind energy development, including design, construction, operation and commercial services, with offices in the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and China...
- Wind power in Germany
Germany was, until 2007, the world’s largest user of wind power with an installed capacity of 22.3 GW that year, ahead of USA which had an installed capacity of 16.8 GW. More than 19,460 wind turbines are located in the German federal area and the country has plans to build more wind...
- Wind power in India
The development of wind power in India began in the 1990s, and has significantly increased in the last few years. The has played a leading role in promoting wind energy in India...
- Hallett Wind Farm
- Wind Turbine
A wind turbine is a rotating machine which converts the kinetic energy of wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used directly by machinery, such as a pump or grinding stones, the machine is usually called a windmill...
External links