OREANDA-NEWS.  Seeing to it that as many companies from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania as possible are able to participate and operate the Arkona wind farm is the goal of the supplier agreement that E.ON put together today in Rostock with the support of WindEnergy Network and Invest in MV. More than 170 representatives of companies in the area are using the platform to network with E.ON and principal contractors.

"It's part of E.ON's philosophy to involve local residents in major projects while also strengthening the regional economy," emphasized E.ON's head of renewable energy projects, Sven Utermohlen. "Apart from that, we are pursuing ambitious goals aimed at producing renewable energy and in particular offshore wind energy at as low a cost to our customers as possible. We are happy to see companies in the area apply their ideas and know-how to a major project like Arkona."

Christian Pegel, Minister for Energy, Infrastructure and State Development in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, who served as sponsor for the event commented, "Events like this clearly illustrate that expanding wind generation involves more than value creation; it means creating real jobs."

The base of operations for the construction and eventual operation of Arkona will be the Mukran port (previously the ferry harbor at Sassnitz) on the island of Rugen. During the construction phase at sea, set to begin in 2017, up to 400 employees from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will be involved in building the wind farm. For subsequent operation, up to 50 high-skilled jobs will be created in Sassnitz over a period of 25 years in the fields of operations management, administration and maintenance along with an additional 100 indirect jobs in external services.

The Arkona Project is located 35 kilometers northeast of the island of Rugen. The wind farm has a capacity of 385 megawatts (MW) and is calculated to provide 400,000 households with renewable energy. In contrast to electricity generated conventionally, Arkona will reduce CO2 emissions by up to 1.2 million tons yearly. 60 turbines in the six megawatt category manufactured by Siemens are set to be installed. The equipment will sit atop monopile foundations at depths of from 23 to 37 meters.

The Arkona wind farm is scheduled to be fully operational in 2019.