Why?
Achim Berge Olsen: There were only eleven months between the first pile-driving for the first monopile and the first electricity fed into the grid. That is a record and no other German offshore wind farm
project has so far beaten it. However, we did also benefit from favourable weather. The weather and
conditions in the North Sea represent major challenges for offshore technology during the installation
phase. Learning to adapt to these conditions is one lesson that I will take out of this project. The réalisation of the grid connection overwhich the project only has limited influence, also went well. Among
the offshore wind farms entering operation this year, we are the only project for which the responsible
transmission System operator, Tennet, only reported a short delay of a few weeks in connecting us.
What were the biggest challenges for you during the entire project phase apart from the weather?
Martin Lehnhoff: That has to do with the individual phases of the project. To start with, we were under
pressure to quickly sign the four main contracts. Which we achieved in the end thanks to intensive and
committed negotiating. During the construction and installation phase we succeeded time and again
with imagination and flexibility in finding solutions in order to avoid unnecessary and expensive delays
- which in some cases was a real tour de force. Imagination and flexibility were needed to reach our
goal of keeping within our cost framework. You can't summarise ail the challenges in just a few sentences. Almost every day had its surprises in store throughout the entire duration of the project.
What did the wpd team learn from Butendiek for the next project Nordergründe?
Martin Lehnhoff: For Butendiek we benefited from the experienced already gained in the Baltic project,
Baltic 1. So we didn't start from zéro and it wasn't completely uncharted territory for us. But we found
out that there are many many minor éléments which can be improved. With Butendiek we knew, for
example, that the transformer substation is in fact a separate project within the project. We started our
support for design and engineering early. For Nordergründe we intend to start with these optimisation
steps even earlier. We believe this will enable us to find more cost-effective solutions and production
processes. That applies across the board from individual components to later manufacture. We do not
want to abandon the contractor to his fate. The earlier and more intensively we are on board with ail the
disciplines, the earlier problems can be detected and solutions found. We now hâve sound knowledge
and a lot of expérience which we will apply in a targeted manner. In future, therefore, we will be able to
reduce major surprises in the course of the project to a minimum.
190
Achim Berge Olsen: There were only eleven months between the first pile-driving for the first monopile and the first electricity fed into the grid. That is a record and no other German offshore wind farm
project has so far beaten it. However, we did also benefit from favourable weather. The weather and
conditions in the North Sea represent major challenges for offshore technology during the installation
phase. Learning to adapt to these conditions is one lesson that I will take out of this project. The réalisation of the grid connection overwhich the project only has limited influence, also went well. Among
the offshore wind farms entering operation this year, we are the only project for which the responsible
transmission System operator, Tennet, only reported a short delay of a few weeks in connecting us.
What were the biggest challenges for you during the entire project phase apart from the weather?
Martin Lehnhoff: That has to do with the individual phases of the project. To start with, we were under
pressure to quickly sign the four main contracts. Which we achieved in the end thanks to intensive and
committed negotiating. During the construction and installation phase we succeeded time and again
with imagination and flexibility in finding solutions in order to avoid unnecessary and expensive delays
- which in some cases was a real tour de force. Imagination and flexibility were needed to reach our
goal of keeping within our cost framework. You can't summarise ail the challenges in just a few sentences. Almost every day had its surprises in store throughout the entire duration of the project.
What did the wpd team learn from Butendiek for the next project Nordergründe?
Martin Lehnhoff: For Butendiek we benefited from the experienced already gained in the Baltic project,
Baltic 1. So we didn't start from zéro and it wasn't completely uncharted territory for us. But we found
out that there are many many minor éléments which can be improved. With Butendiek we knew, for
example, that the transformer substation is in fact a separate project within the project. We started our
support for design and engineering early. For Nordergründe we intend to start with these optimisation
steps even earlier. We believe this will enable us to find more cost-effective solutions and production
processes. That applies across the board from individual components to later manufacture. We do not
want to abandon the contractor to his fate. The earlier and more intensively we are on board with ail the
disciplines, the earlier problems can be detected and solutions found. We now hâve sound knowledge
and a lot of expérience which we will apply in a targeted manner. In future, therefore, we will be able to
reduce major surprises in the course of the project to a minimum.
190