Areva Wind

Areva Wind is a subsidiary of Areva, a French nuclear company. The company designs, assembles, installs and commissions 5-Megawatt wind turbines for offshore wind farms, a growing international industry. Each turbine can produce enough electricity to power 4,000 to 5,000 homes. Areva also designs and manufactures rotor blades through its subsidiary Areva Blades. Areva Wind is headquartered in Bremerhaven, Germany^[1] and Areva Blades is located in Stade, Germany.^[1]

Areva Wind produced 6 of 12 turbines for the first German offshore test field alpha ventus and is producing turbines for commercial wind farms in the North Sea.^[2][3] Areva says it is Europe’s second largest offshore wind industry player, and it will have installed more than 120 turbines in the waters around Europe by 2013.^[4] The company is active in the UK and France and has stated that it plans to develop offshore wind in North America.^[5]

History

Areva Wind began as Multibrid GmbH which, along with Areva Blades, was owned by the energy company Prokon Nord Energiesysteme. The Areva Group first invested in Multibrid in 2007, buying 51% of the company’s shares from Prokon Nord Energiesysteme for €150 million. It bought the remaining 49% of shares in 2010.^[6] In 2009, Areva acquired Areva Blades, formerly PN Rotor, and added the subsidiary to its Renewables business group.^[7]

Organization

Areva Wind is one of four units in Areva’s Renewable Energies business group (AREVA Renewables). Jean Huby is Areva Wind’s Executive Vice President.^[8] Areva Wind is headquartered in the North of Germany. All of its M5000 wind turbines are developed and manufactured at Bremerhaven. The blades for the M5000 are manufactured in Stade (Areva Blades).^[9] Both plants are located near the port of Bremerhaven or Hamburg.^[9]

Areva operates a 50/50-joint venture for offshore turbines with Gamesa Corporación Tecnológica called Adwen.^[10][11] For the year of 2015, Adwen had a market share of 18%.^[12]

Technology

The Areva M5000 (the M stands for “Multibrid”, which means multi-megawatts and a hybrid design) is designed for harsh offshore conditions.^[13] The design has been made by aerodyn Energiesysteme.^[14] The turbine design has got the iF Design Award 1999 [Bartsch / aerodyn].^[15] It can power up to 5,000 households.^[16] Its hybrid drive system and lightweight blades were designed for compactness and reliability.^[17] Weighing 815 metric tons (including the 500-metric ton tower), the wind turbine operates at wind speeds of 3.5–25 m/s. The hub height is 90 m (LAT), and the diameter of the rotor is 116 m.^[18] The turbine includes a unique anti corrosion system. This innovation has got the European Inventor AWARD 2008 by European Patent Office.^[19]

Projects

The first prototype was installed in 2004. Three additional onshore turbines were installed in 2008 in order to develop expertise with tripods, large hub heights, erection, lifting equipment, logistics and serial manufacturing.^[20]

In 2009, Areva Wind completed the EPC supply and commissioning of 6 M5000 turbines for the first German offshore wind farm, alpha ventus.^[21] Alpha ventus is situated near the German island of Borkum in the North Sea.^[21] The farm was completed in September 2009 and incorporates 12 wind turbines with a total production of 60 MW. Six of those are Areva Wind M5000 models and the remaining 6 were made by REpower.^[20] The farm is owned and operated by the DOTI syndicate, which comprises E.ON Energy Projects GmbH, EWE AG, and Vattenfall Europe.^[22]

Areva Wind was selected in 2010 to supply 40 Areva M5000 wind turbines for the 200 MW Borkum West II offshore project run by Trianel. This project is also located on the North Sea close to the alpha ventus test field.^[21]

The Global Tech North Sea Wind Park is a €1.3-billion project by Global Tech 1 North Sea Gmbh scheduled for construction between 2012 and 2013.^[23] It will consist of 80 M5000 turbines, all supplied by Areva Wind in an €800 million contract.^[23] The 400-MW farm will be situated 110 km northwest of Cuxhaven in the German Exclusive Economic Zone (AWZ). It is expected to help cut Germany’s carbon dioxide emissions by 1.2 million tons each year.^[23]

In May 2011, Areva signed a partnership agreement with GDF SUEZ and Vinci SA to respond jointly to the January 2011 call for tenders announced by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.^[24] The government is targeting 6,000 MW of offshore wind capacity by 2020 and intends to build 5 offshore wind farms along the French coast. The agreement applies exclusively to three wind farms at Dieppe-Le Tréport, Courseulles-sur-Mer and Fécamp. These wind farms are expected to serve the electricity requirements of several million people for an average duration of 30 years.^[25]

In June 2011, Iberdrola Renewables and Areva signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop offshore wind projects in France following the government’s announcement of a plan to reach a 6 GW target by 2020. The partners will compete for two of the country’s five offshore zones offered in a first phase of bidding.^[26]

Awards

Areva's M5000 was the offshore turbine of the year 2012 ^[27]

References