The first years following the turn of the millennium are important
years for wpd, not only because the company changes to a PLC.
The Hanseatics begin to develop their own wind farms - fïrstly
abroad, later also in Germany. Which Gernot Blanke summarises
as follows: "Our business model had by now changed completely.
We are a classic project developer, we support projects from the
first planning stage to completion and we want to keep as much
in our own hands as we can."
As newcomers to the offshore wind business, wpd consciously
relies on collaborating with partners in the early years. For the
first two North Sea projects, "Hohe See" and "He dreiht", wpd sets
up EOS Offshore AG with a planning office from Lower Saxony. The
men from the Hanseatic town on the Weser enter into a similar
50:50 partnership with a planning office from Mecklenburg for
their first projects in the Baltic. The distribution of work is always
the same: "We take care of the finance and ail legal matters while
the actual planning work is done by our partners", says Blanke as
he explains the way in which the partnerships worked in those
days.
In May 2005, wpd's offshore wind department becomes a real
talking point for the first time: the men from Bremen sell the
project rights to their first offshore wind project. But not just to
anyone: the buyer in this case is the Swedish state-owned company, Vattenfall. The largest electricity company in Scandinavia
acquires the licence for the Kriegers Flak II project in the Baltic
which at the time was the largest offshore wind project planned
in Sweden with 128 turbines of the 5 MW class. The fact that
Vattenfa Ils management has still not taken the investment decision for this project is another story.
Regardless of this development, the conclusion of a contract with
one of Europe's largest electricity companies becomes a dooropener for wpd: from now on, no-one doubts the offshore wind
expertise of the men from Bremen any longer, and wpd is in demand as a partner for offshore wind farms.
123
years for wpd, not only because the company changes to a PLC.
The Hanseatics begin to develop their own wind farms - fïrstly
abroad, later also in Germany. Which Gernot Blanke summarises
as follows: "Our business model had by now changed completely.
We are a classic project developer, we support projects from the
first planning stage to completion and we want to keep as much
in our own hands as we can."
As newcomers to the offshore wind business, wpd consciously
relies on collaborating with partners in the early years. For the
first two North Sea projects, "Hohe See" and "He dreiht", wpd sets
up EOS Offshore AG with a planning office from Lower Saxony. The
men from the Hanseatic town on the Weser enter into a similar
50:50 partnership with a planning office from Mecklenburg for
their first projects in the Baltic. The distribution of work is always
the same: "We take care of the finance and ail legal matters while
the actual planning work is done by our partners", says Blanke as
he explains the way in which the partnerships worked in those
days.
In May 2005, wpd's offshore wind department becomes a real
talking point for the first time: the men from Bremen sell the
project rights to their first offshore wind project. But not just to
anyone: the buyer in this case is the Swedish state-owned company, Vattenfall. The largest electricity company in Scandinavia
acquires the licence for the Kriegers Flak II project in the Baltic
which at the time was the largest offshore wind project planned
in Sweden with 128 turbines of the 5 MW class. The fact that
Vattenfa Ils management has still not taken the investment decision for this project is another story.
Regardless of this development, the conclusion of a contract with
one of Europe's largest electricity companies becomes a dooropener for wpd: from now on, no-one doubts the offshore wind
expertise of the men from Bremen any longer, and wpd is in demand as a partner for offshore wind farms.
123