The Alpha Ventus offshore wind test field off Germany is to be decommissioned using environmentally friendly processes and techniques.

The wind farm is located in the German Bight, around 45 kilometres off the island of Borkum, and is operated by a consortium of EWE, RWE and Vattenfall.

"Offshore wind energy is now an established technology and an important pillar of energy supply in Germany – not least thanks to the Alpha Ventus test field.

“But research continues to be a high priority," said Bernhard Lange from the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems (IWES).

The RAVE (Research at Alpha Ventus) research initiative will focus on questions relating to the economic and environmentally friendly dismantling of offshore wind farms.

A concept for the environmentally friendly dismantling of the 12 wind turbines and the park's internal substation is currently being drawn up in close coordination with the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency.

In addition to the protection of the marine environment, the recycling of the components is to be given high priority.

"Alpha Ventus will reach the end of its planned operating life in just over four years. That's why we are faced with the challenge of examining how to proceed," said Eric Richter, Managing Director of alpha ventus Betriebsgesellschaft DOTI.

"We looked at a wide variety of options – including, of course, repowering.

“However, due to the size and weight of today's turbine models, the foundations would also have had to be replaced, which would have been tantamount to a new building, and the relatively small area of Alpha Ventus is not suitable for this.

“Now we are working together with our partners and the responsible authorities on an environmentally friendly dismantling concept."

Richter added: "We are still at the very beginning of our considerations for dismantling. Just as we were the first to build an offshore wind farm in German waters, we are now the first to gain experience in dismantling.

“It is completely normal to plan such work at an early stage – also because the special ships and port capacities required for this have to be booked well in advance.”

The Alpha Ventus Test Field Has Successfully Fulfilled Its Purpose

"Offshore wind energy is now an established technology and an important pillar of energy supply in Germany – not least thanks to the Alpha Ventus test field. But research continues to be a high priority," says Bernhard Lange from the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems (IWES). "While 15 years ago the focus was still on the question of whether offshore wind energy was even possible in Germany, today we are dedicating ourselves to optimizing the technology and looking at how costs can be further reduced. The RAVE (Research at Alpha Ventus) research initiative will focus on questions relating to the economic and environmentally friendly dismantling of offshore wind farms."

Alpha Ventus has already more than fulfilled its role as a test field. However, pioneering work is also to be done with this wind farm in the coming years. For the first time in Germany, the dismantling of an offshore wind farm is to be tackled in close cooperation with the responsible authorities. As was already the case with construction and operation, research questions that are still open for the future dismantling of large wind farms can be worked on.

"Alpha Ventus will reach the end of its planned operating life in just over four years. That's why we are faced with the challenge of examining how to proceed," explains Eric Richter, Managing Director of alpha ventus Betriebsgesellschaft DOTI. "We looked at a wide variety of options – including, of course, repowering. However, due to the size and weight of today's turbine models, the foundations would also have had to be replaced, which would have been tantamount to a new building, and the relatively small area of Alpha Ventus is not suitable for this. Now we are working together with our partners and the responsible authorities on an environmentally friendly dismantling concept."

A concept for the environmentally friendly dismantling of the twelve wind turbines and the park's internal substation is currently being drawn up in close coordination with the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency. In this concept, in addition to the protection of the marine environment, the recycling of the components is to be given high priority.

"We are still at the very beginning of our considerations for dismantling. Just as we were the first to build an offshore wind farm in German waters, we are now the first to gain experience in dismantling. It is completely normal to plan such work at an early stage – also because the special ships and port capacities required for this have to be booked well in advance," says Richter.

The Alpha Ventus wind farm is located in the German Bight, around 45 kilometres off the island of Borkum, and is operated by a consortium of EWE, RWE and Vattenfall.

The first German offshore wind farm went into operation in April 2010

15 years ago, the age of offshore wind energy began. Germany's first offshore wind farm Alpha Ventus was inaugurated on 27.04.2010. The pioneering project gave the go-ahead for the development of offshore wind energy in the German Bight.

Alpha Ventus is the world's first offshore wind farm to go into operation under offshore conditions. From 2010 up to and including April 2025, Alpha Ventus fed a total of 2.93 terawatt hours of climate-friendly electricity into the German transmission grid. The pioneering project was implemented jointly by Deutsche Offshore-Testfeld und Infrastruktur GmbH & Co. KG and the OFFSHORE-WINDENERGIE Foundation.

Pioneering project in technical, legal and ecological terms

In retrospect, Alpha Ventus has proven to be an important initial spark for the German offshore industry. The approval processes carried out for the first time on the basis of alpha ventus, the testing of technical and logistical construction and operation concepts as well as the accompanying ecological research provided the offshore industry that was being developed with the urgently needed frame of reference. For the offshore industry, there is therefore a pre- and post-alpha-ventus calendar. Before that, the small coastal projects. Then the big projects on the high seas. With Alpha Ventus, it was possible to show for the first time that offshore also works beyond the 12 nautical mile zone.