Ecoenerg/EAB to build largest Czech wind farm 

Wind project developer Ecoenerg and German partner EAB Projektbau are on track to complete a 42 MW wind park in the Czech Republic by the end of this year, set to be the country’s largest, company officials told Interfax.

“Twelve wind energy plants of the type Enercon E82 [2 MW, 78-meter hub height] are now in operation and 18 have been erected out of the 21 planned,” EAB project manager Maik Muller said in an onsite interview in Krystofovy Hamry, part of the low Krusne mountain range of North Bohemia. Muller added that the goal of completing the wind farm this year, based mostly on the delivery of components via mountain roads, will depend on winter weather conditions. Ecoenerg and EAB Projektbau are independent companies of the EAB group, which has already planned, constructed and commissioned 200 wind energy plants, mainly in Germany.

On foreign projects, EAB works with local partners such as Ecoenerg, and is in various stages of developing wind parks also in Poland and Hungary, company director Rainer Sack told Interfax, adding the company sees great potential for the region in renewable energy.

“The Czech Republic offers more potential in using wind energy in the region of the Krusne mountain range as well as the midlands,” Sack said. “Ecoenerg is interested in developing new projects in the near future.”

In Poland, one 32 MW project, in Inowroclaw, has been fully approved and the negotiation with the purchaser of the project is nearly concluded. EAB expects to realise two other Polish projects with a total 86 MW in 2008 and 2009.

In Hungary, the project development of one 22 MW project in Lovo is nearly complete and the company is awaiting approval for a license to supply wind energy to the grid.

For the Czech wind park the total investment of EUR 55 million (CZK 1.48 billion) was financed by Sachsen LB in Leipzig, Germany. The company expects to post a return within 15 years, according to EAB. As in the Krystofovy Hamry, some planned projects will be comprised of Vestas V90 turbines each with a two MW output.

The Krystofovy Hamry wind farm will be connected to the electricity through a special indoor voltage transformation substation – the first private sector substation in the Czech Republic – in nearby Medenec, which takes account of the specific climate conditions at this location on the low mountain range, project manager Muller said.

Approximately 103,000,000 kWh of clean energy will be produced by the wind farm per year over the turbines live time of 25 to 30 years, which provides approximately 30,000 Czech households and saves greenhouse gas emissions of about 70,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, according to EAB.

The company is awaiting approval from the Czech Environment Ministry for Krystofovy Hamry project to receive emission reduction units (ERU), which can be traded within the European Union’s Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS), under the Joint Implementation mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol.

Econerg/EAB’s Krystofovy Hamry substation will be operated and maintained by CEZ Distribucni sluzby (part of Prague- and Warsaw-listed Czech state-run power utility CEZ), while the wind farm itself will be operated by Ecoenerg Windkraft GmbH & Co. KG, with its place of business in the Czech Republic.

According to industry estimates, Czech wind power stations produced 49.4 GWh of electricity last year, a 100 percent increase year-on-year (y/y). A 40 percent y/y increase is anticipated for 2007, when there will be more than 60 wind-power stations in total operating.

New Europe

3 November 2007