Consortium of EWE, E.ON and Vattenfall, DOTI (Deutsche Offshore- Testfeld und Infrastruktur GmbH), has successfully completed the construction of the first of a total of 12 wind turbines for the alpha ventus offshore wind farm in the North Sea.

The 5-megawatt turbine is situated 45 kilometres north of the island of Borkum.

All 12 turbines are scheduled to be in operation by the end of this year, making alpha ventus the first offshore wind farm in German waters.

The project is to cost €250 million. DOTI shared that the original capital expenditure has been increased, rising from €190 million.

The project is managed by a 40-person team of employees from the three companies involved.

Construction of the wind turbines began in mid-April of this year. The first attempt had to be aborted in August 2008 due to bad weather conditions. The joint company DOTI was founded in June 2006.

A spokesperson said this is a first for offshore wind energy utilisation in Germany and for the first time, wind turbines of this size are being constructed this far offshore in waters up to 30 meters deep.

The next step is the phased launching of the first wind turbine. Also involved is connecting the turbine to the offshore transformer station, which will follow in the coming weeks. EWE will later be responsible for supervision and overall operational management of the newly constructed wind farm.