Where the wind blows

By Nicole de Jong

Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) has set a target of generating at least 80 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2030. By 2045, Germany aims to be climate- neutral and generate at least 70 gigawatts from offshore wind.

Lower Saxony is at the forefront of Germany’s energy transition. One of the key elements is the German Offshore Industry Centre (DOIZ) in Cuxhaven, the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. Considered a gateway to the “green power plant” that is the North Sea, the DOIZ plays a central role in the German offshore wind industry. It makes a significant contribution to the energy transition by combining the production, logistics, shipping, and operations and maintenance (O&M) of offshore wind turbines at one location. The DOIZ is located directly on the North Sea coast and has become an important location for the construction, maintenance and operation of offshore wind farms.

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (RE), for example, manufactures wind turbines for offshore installation – three production lines are used to assemble and “marry” the hubs that turn and control the rotor blades with the generators and nacelles. Siemens Gamesa began operations in Cuxhaven in 2018, initially producing nacelles for 14-megawatt (MW) offshore wind turbines. The company is now producing the next generation at the site. The 14-megawatt turbines will be able to supply up to 15,000 households with electricity.

The Danish company Nordmark also set up shop in Cuxhaven in 2018, where it builds rotor hubs, supports and bearing housings for wind turbines. It is also a supplier for Siemens Gamesa. Entec Industrial Services – also based at the DOIZ – is a cross-industry specialist in logistics services, storage and handling solutions, but also for environmental and plant services and O&M.

Cuxhaven-based Otto Wulf, a company with a century- old history, is also involved in the DOIZ. The family- run company specialises in towage, salvage, marine transport, floating crane operations and offshore engineering transport services. “We have been involved in the wind industry as a transport and logistics partner from the very beginning and benefit from the DOIZ,” says Sören Wulf, the company’s fourth-generation managing director. Parts for onshore and offshore installations are transported by Wulf pontoons and tugs. Big and heavy items are all in a day’s work for the company: between May and December 2019, it transported parts for the new Kattwyk Bridge from Hanover and Cuxhaven to Hamburg and assembled them with its floating cranes.

Soon, Titan Wind Energy (Germany) will also be producing monopiles, a special type of foundation used in the wind industry for offshore wind turbines, at the DOIZ. They consist of a single large steel tube pile up to 14 metres in diameter, 140 metres long and weighing up to 3,500 tonnes. Monopiles are driven vertically into the seabed to provide a stable anchor for wind turbines to withstand the forces of wind, waves and currents. Production at the Cuxhaven site is scheduled to start in 2026.

“This means that the largest and most expensive parts for offshore wind turbines will be manufactured in Cuxhaven,” says Captain Arne Ehlers, Managing Director of Blue Water BREB, which specialises in handling wind power components and project cargo and is also located directly at the DOIZ. “Cuxhaven is not only Germany’s largest onshore import port, but also the largest in the world,” he adds, while also emphasising: “we are driving the energy transition.”

"One of the key
elements is the
German Offshore
Industry Centre (DOIZ)
in Cuxhaven."

Together with the state of Lower Saxony, Cuxhaven has made the right decisions at the right time and attracted the right companies that can help transform it into a hub for the energy transition. The figures from Blue Water BREB speak for themselves: employees load and unload 3,500 large components such as tower sections, rotor blades and gearboxes from various manufacturers from the more than 200 ships that call at the DOIZ terminal each year.

Rhenus Cuxport has positioned itself as an important partner for the wind energy industry, especially for the growing offshore wind energy market. The terminal operator, which has been based at the port since 1997, can handle large and heavy components such as rotor blades for wind turbines at the DOIZ. The Cuxport site is particularly suitable as a port of departure for the installation of the planned wind farms.

“We are on the right track, which we started on almost 25 years ago in Cuxhaven,” says Marc Itgen, member of the board of directors of Hafenwirtschaftsgemeinschaft (HWG) and Head of Projects at Ingenion, which offers a modern multifunctional terminal for offshore use within the Karlsson group of companies. Ingenion continues to be a driving force for the production, storage and use of green hydrogen in the maritime and port industries and is already making it available in one use case.

Decision-makers in Cuxhaven realised early on that the former fishing port needed to reinvent itself to remain competitive and create new jobs. Since 2006, the state of Lower Saxony, the European Union and the Cuxhaven Port Development Company have invested more than EUR 250 million in the port’s infrastructure and superstructure – with further investments of several hundred million euros in the pipeline. The Offshore Network Development Plan (O-NEP), introduced in 2013 as part of the German energy transition, is seen as the initial spark for the reorientation and further confirmation for the establishment of the DOIZ.

The results so far have been impressive: with a total of 369,000 square metres of terminal space and a 100,000-square metre multipurpose and car terminal area located in front of the port, Cuxhaven has established itself as an important partner for European short sea traffic. In 2018, berth 4 was added to the port, along with the ability to provide storage and handling facilities for heavy components for the wind energy industry. With its jack-up berths, which are special berths for installation vessels with hydraulically operated “legs” that can be lowered down to the seabed, this area is particularly suitable as a starting point for the installation of the planned wind farms.

Berths 8 and 9 have high-capacity heavy lift cranes and a ro-ro heavy-duty ramp. And there is no end in sight, as the expansion of berths 5 to 7 is also expected to start by the end of the year – the financing of EUR 300 million has been secured. This will close the gap and add 1.2 kilometres to the quay wall in terms of continuous areas suitable for heavy loads, resulting in a total length of 3.6 kilometres. Additional areas are being prepared for wind energy.

All involved parties agree that the city of Cuxhaven is entering a historic phase thanks to the DOIZ. “Never in the history of the city of Cuxhaven could we have expected to trigger as much investment in a period of five to seven years as we are doing now and will continue to do in the future,” says Cuxhaven's mayor, Uwe Santjer. “We are reinventing the city via the DOIZ and are glad to be part of the energy transition in Germany,” he adds. Businesses are keen to invest, Cuxhaven is seeing more births and the city is getting younger. “Families are finding their future here. Everything we are seeing now is very encouraging,” he says. This success story shows that joint action by the government, businesses and the local community can lead to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future.

The DOIZ in facts and figures

The German Offshore Industry Centre (DOIZ), located on an approximately 450-hectare site in Cuxhaven, is considered to be the largest transshipment centre for wind energy. More than 200 ships carrying 4,500 large components call at the terminal each year. Berth 4, which is 290 metres long, has an area of 8.5 hectares for storing and handling heavy components for the wind industry. Berths 8 and 9 have a total quay length of 1,340 metres and water depths of up to 11.6 metres, as well as heavy-duty crane capacity and a ro-ro heavy-duty ramp with a load capacity of 5.000tonnes, mathematically even 7.000 tonnes.

The expansion of berths 5 to 7, with a quay length of 1,250 metres, will commence at the end of 2024 and create an additional 35 hectares of space for the renewable energy industry. When completed, the section of quay wall capable of handling heavy loads throughout will be 3.6 kilometres long.

There are also plans to build a heavy-duty bridge with a capacity of up to 5,000 tonnes to link the berths in the port with the expansion areas to the south and to connect the port to the B73 federal road and A27 motorway.

The partners of the DOIZ are: Hafenwirtschaftsgemeinschaft (HWG) Cuxhaven, Agentur für Wirtschaftsförderung, PNE Wind AG, Blue Water BREB, Niedersachsen Ports, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, Cuxhavener Hafen-Entwicklungsgesellschaft (CuxHafEn), Nordmark, Titan Wind Energy, Rhenus Cuxport, Offshore Safety-Trainingscenter, Turneo, Entec and Otto Wulf.

These wind energy projects were realised from Cuxhaven or received support from Cuxhaven during their construction: Bard Offshore 1, Alpha Ventus, E.On Amrumbank West, OWF Formosa 1, OWF Yunlin, OWF Beatrice, Janett-Xoke, Nordsee Ost, Meerwind Süd/Ost, Dank Tysk, Sandbank and Butendiek.