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After repowering, the Windpark Klettwitz is again amongst the ten most powerful wind farms in Germany
Built on a former open cast mine, the technically challenging construction is forward-looking for the energy revolution
The machine housing of an old turbine is dismantled
Concreting a foundation for a new Tower
In order to improve the foundation soil, GICON implemented vibro-compaction as well as a specially-developed combined pile-raft foundation
The repowering of the wind farm in Klettwitz (State of Brandenburg, Germany) is complete. The wind park was completed on 15June 2015 after only 12 months of construction and now, with a nominal output of 93 MW, feeds the green energy produced into the grid. The project developer and investor Ventotec GmbH, collectively with GICON as owner´s engineer, planned and implemented the power increase.
More than 120 people worked around the clock on one of the largest wind farm construction sites in Europe. On site, 36 old Vestas V66 wind turbines were dismantled and replaced by 27 modern Vestas V112 turbines. In addition, the wind park area was considerably extended and in doing so, the distance between residential areas and the plant was increased to 1 kilometer, thus reducing noise emissions despite the higher performance.
The repowering of the Klettwitz site has once again established it as one of the ten most powerful wind farms in Germany. At its inauguration in 2000, Klettwitz was that the time the largest wind farm in Europe.
Construction on a former opencast coal mine makes the wind farm a showcase project for the energy revolution.
The biggest technical challenge of the project was the construction of the wind turbines on the loose tipping ground of a former opencast coal mine. By means of vibro-compaction of the ground and the implementation of specially-developed combined pile-raft foundations, GICON was able to make this ambitious project possible.
"In Klettwitz, renewable energy is now generated where previously climate-damaging coal was mined. A brilliant example of the green energy transition", said Ventotec CEO Ralf Heinen. “Our technical solutions mean other complicated areas such as landfills or brownfields can also be developed for wind energy alongside former opencast mines," explained Dr. Annett Schröter, CEO of GICON Großmann Ingenieur Consult GmbH, referring to the advantages of the combined pile-raft foundation.
As a general contractor, GICON was responsible for the project approval process, project management, property and facility planning, construction management, geotechnical site management and nature conservation supervision. The project is thus a perfect example of the comprehensive and multidisciplinary engineering services offered throughout the GICON Group. The complete construction progress can be followed at www.gicon.de/aktuelles/baufortschritt-klettwitz.html.
Renewed expansion in the planning phase
In addition to the current project, plans for a further extension of the site are proceeding. The town of Schipkau has already approved the planning application, which consists of five wind turbines for the first step of extension and a planned construction start in 2016. In the pending preliminary investigations, planning and implementation steps, GICON will once again be centrally involved.
