REpower Systems AG has signed a deal with Ormonde Energy Limited (OEL), a subsidiary of Vattenfall AB, to supply turbines for a UK offshore wind farm.

REpower would supply 30 units of its 5 megawatt turbine for the Ormonde wind farm, about 35 kilometres away from Barrow-in-Furness in the Irish Sea. The construction of the farm is expected to begin in early 2011.

For REpower, this is the largest offshore agreement to date in the UK.

The total of 30 REpower 5M turbine nacelles and hubs are to be manufactured at REpower’s offshore manufacturing and logistics centre in Bremerhaven and are intended for delivery from the end of 2010.

The components will then be shipped to the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Rotor blades and tower segments will also be transported to Belfast, where pre-assembly is planned. The turbines are then to be shipped out to sea using a jack-up platform, where they will be installed on jacket foundations.

Construction will be carried out by Vattenfall and/or companies commissioned by Vattenfall AB; operation and test-phase monitoring will be carried out by REpower. Vattenfall AB also concluded an offshore service agreement with REpower for a total of five years’ service and maintenance of the Ormonde wind farm.

Since 2004, REpower has erected 17 turbines of this type both onshore and offshore.