Parkwind NV, one of Europe’s leading independent offshore wind developers, acquired 100% of KNK GmbH, the owner of the Arcadis Ost 1 concession that was awarded a project of 247 MW in the Baltic Sea by the German authorities. The former shareholders, led by WV Energie AG, teamed up with Parkwind to prepare this successful bid in the German 2018 auction.
The Arcadis Ost 1 wind farm will generate enough energy to power 290,000 households. The project is located approximately 19 km northeast of the island Rügen, within the 12-nautical mile zone.Parkwind NV is a Belgian company investing, developing, building and operating offshore wind farms since 2009. To date, Parkwind is operating its successfully developed and constructed wind farms in the Belgian North Sea – Belwind, Northwind and Nobelwind – totalling up to 546 MW. A fourth Belgian project, Northwester 2 (224 MW), targets financial close in 2018 to be fully operational in early 2020.The Arcadis project follows the 2017 acquisition of the Irish Oriel wind farm (330 MW) and thereby re-affirms the international growth ambitions of Parkwind.
Eric Antoons and François Van Leeuw, co-CEO’s of Parkwind:
“We are delighted to take our first steps in the German offshore market, a pioneering country with a strong investment climate. We are looking forward combining our expertise with the experience of all relevant stakeholders in this market in making this project a success. After the acquisition of Oriel in 2017, this is our second step of many to come in growing Parkwind internationally. Together with Northwester 2, Parkwind has now established a development pipeline of 800 MW and aiming for more. We are constantly on the lookout for challenging projects and for the right partners to make them happen. Strong partnerships, in combination with our value proposition, have proven to be a successful formula in this increasingly competitive sector.”
Heinrich Bettelhäuser, CEO of WV Energie AG (previous majority shareholder of KNK Wind GmbH):
“We thank Parkwind for the great and straightforward cooperation in the last months to prepare a competitive bid for the German auction.”
Tilo Vogdt, Head of Business Unit Offshore at WV Energie AG (previous MD of KNK Wind GmbH):
“I’m happy about the result of the auction, finishing a 10-year development phase.”