Wind farm developer Vattenfall said Tuesday it would build its largest warehouse in Northern Europe with critical main components and spare parts for wind turbines at the Danish Port of Esbjerg.
The 2,100 sqm indoor warehouse and an 8,200 sqm outdoor storage facility will serve wind farms in Great Britain, Scandinavia and Northern Europe when ready in 2022.
"It is from this central warehouse facility in Esbjerg that the major part of Vattenfall’s wind farms in Northern Europe will be supplied with critical main components such as gearboxes, generators, transformers, shafts and blades as well as the main components necessary for bringing the electricity on shore such as array cables and switchgear. The warehouse will be a supplement to the dedicated warehouses that will still serve the individual wind farms," Vattenfall said.
”The Port of Esbjerg is the ideal place for us to build such a warehouse due to its central location in Northern Europe and the professional way the port is operated. It will provide economies of scale compared to having vital main components stored at several smaller locations, and it is a central part of our ambition to see growth in wind farms across Northern Europe,” says Pia Bonding, Head of Integrated Operations at Vattenfall.
According to Vattenfall, the company is operating more than 1,300 onshore and offshore wind turbines in Northern Europe dispersed across farms from Northern Sweden over Denmark to Germany and the Netherlands.
"Already today, the farms are monitored from Vattenfall’s local control room in Esbjerg and in future the town will also be the hub for a central warehouse for these wind farms," the company said.
Dennis Jul Pedersen, CEO of the Port of Esbjerg, said: "It was a condition for Vattenfall that the building was close to the quay. It is part of the port’s strategy to be able to deliver this type of solution, and the former ferry terminal has been laid out for this type of activity,” says.
The construction work will begin at the end of June this year, and is expected to be completed some ten months later. After that, the warehouse has to be stocked and made ready for operation in June 2022.