5M installed at Beatrice wind farm, in Scottish waters.

RWE Innogy and REpower are collaborating under a framework agreement reached between the two companies in February 2009. Under this agreement, REpower is to deliver up to 250 offshore wind turbines, the 5M/6M units. The company is to supply the nacelles and hubs after these components are manufactured in Bremerhaven, REpower's facility for manufacturing offshore wind power components. Rotor blades and towers are also to be manufactured at this facility. Additional obligations for REpower are the start-up and servicing of the wind farm.

Nordsee Ost is to be located in the German North Sea, and is part of a larger offshore development project in the German North Sea, which we covered earlier. Nordsee Ost represents an investment of about USD 1 billion for RWE Innogy. The company has already got some experience in using the 5M offshore wind turbines at the company's previous mega-project in the Belgian waters, the Thornton Bank wind farm.

On the other hand, REpower has had quite some experience in the past years, installing offshore wind turbines, for example the Beatrice wind farm near the Scottish coast, at depths of about 44 meters, and at distances from shore as far as 25 km (16 mi).

The 5M and 6M are among the biggest wind turbines in the global wind market today. With rotor diameters of 126 meters, these giants are an awesome site on the sea horizon. So far, REpower has set up a total of 26 5M and 6M units, both onshore and at offshore locations.

[source: REpower / RWE Innogy]