Energiequelle GmbH has put a wind turbine into operation in Ludwigsfelde. An Enercon E-138 with a hub height of 160 metres was erected on a landfill site in the Brandenburg district of Teltow-Fläming. The turbine has an output of 4.2 MW and produces electricity for around 5,000 households.

Approval for the project was granted in March 2023. Following a rejected appeal and legal action, construction of the turbine was able to begin in February last year. The plant has now successfully fed its first kilowatt hour into the grid.

Erik Klaus, Project Manager at Energiequelle GmbH, is delighted that the plant is now connected to the grid: ‘The commissioning of the new wind turbine is a significant milestone. The successful realisation shows the determination and commitment of everyone involved.’

The turbine is the 808th wind turbine erected by Energiequelle. Since its foundation in 1997, the company has connected more than 1,700 MW to the grid across Europe.

Four Energiequelle GmbH wind farms have been awarded contracts in the latest onshore wind energy tender. With a total of 68.1 MW, the company was successful despite being slightly oversubscribed.

The wind farms are located in Bremen (Rekum, two turbines totalling 14 MW), Thuringia (Sömmerda, four turbines totalling 22 MW), Brandenburg (Danna, one turbine with 4.3 MW) and Hesse (Heringen, four turbines totalling 22 MW).

Gregor Weber, Managing Director of Project Management at Energiequelle, is delighted with the success: ‘We were able to get wind farms approved in four different federal states and have now successfully completed the tendering process. We are particularly pleased about the first award for two of our projects from our almost 300 MW portfolio in Thuringia and Hesse, which we developed together with Alterric. In the next step, we will do everything we can to prepare for the start of construction in order to connect the parks to the grid as quickly as possible.’

In total, the company has already built more than 800 plants with a total nominal output of 1,700 MW.

Energiequelle GmbH has commissioned three Enercon turbines in Mittelherwigsdorf, Saxony. The wind farm is a repowering project in cooperation with Alterric, in which three of the eight old E-40, E-66 and E-70 wind turbines were dismantled and replaced with three E-138s. The turbines have a height of 160 m and an output of 4.2 MW per turbine. The repowering will increase electricity production six-fold at the three sites. This means that around 11,000 households can be supplied with renewable electricity.

Energiequelle was responsible for the development and approval as well as the coordination and monitoring of the construction process in the cooperation project. Two plants were built for Alterric Deutschland GmbH and one plant for Energiequelle GmbH. The company will also be responsible for the operational management of this plant in future.

Simon Frauendorf, site manager at Energiequelle, is delighted with the successful construction, which brought with it a number of challenges: “There was an unplanned construction site on the main road via which the large components were to be delivered. The route therefore had to be changed and some of the bends had to be widened. Wind and thunderstorms also delayed the assembly of the rotor blades, which ultimately took place at night.”

The turbines have been turning and feeding electricity into the grid for two weeks now. To date, Energiequelle has installed more than 850 turbines with a total output of around 1,700 MW.

Photo: Three Enercon E-138 turbines have gone into operation in Mittelherwigsdorf

Energiequelle GmbH has started construction of two wind turbines in Saxony. In Eulitz (Meißen district), the international project planning company is erecting two Enercon E-160 turbines, each with a hub height of 166 meters and an output of 5.56 megawatts (MW). The construction of the roads, crane pads and foundations has now been completed and the delivery of the large components is imminent. Installation and final commissioning are planned by the end of the year. The plants are expected to supply around 12,000 households with renewable electricity in the future. The estimated yield of the park is expected to be 36,000 MWh per year.

Energiequelle had already received the approval fort he wind farm in November 2022. However, due to a rescheduling of the plant type, construction could not begin until much later. In the meantime, the Dresden-based Energiequelle GmbH team was also concerned that the regional plan of the Upper Elbe Valley/Eastern Ore Mountains regional planning association would be overturned and the necessary planning law would therefore be lost. The ruling of the OVG Bautzen on 11.05.2023 that the priority and suitability areas for wind energy use in the 2020 regional plan were indeed declared invalid. However, the project is not affected by the ruling due to the BImSchG approval already granted at that time.

Following the repowering of the Mittelherwigsdorf wind farm, the Eulitz wind farm with the two Enercon E-160 turbines is already the second wind farm planned and realized by Energiequelle in the Free State of Saxony. Others will follow in the coming years.

Photo: Foundation of the Enercon turbine E-160

The construction of a 21 MW wind farm has begun in Teschendorf, Lower Saxony. Energiequelle GmbH, which planned and developed the wind farm in the district of Gifhorn, is erecting five Enercon E-138 turbines with a hub height of 130 meters and a capacity of 4.2 MW each. Work is currently underway on the wind farm’s road construction, with the foundations to follow in January 2025. The turbines are expected to supply around 17,000 households with renewable electricity in the future. The estimated yield of the wind farm is 60,000,000 kWh per year.

The wind farm has a long planning period behind it, as the regional planning of the Greater Braunschweig Regional Association (RGB) took almost ten years, with the subsequent development plan process taking another two years. Only then were the regional planning and land-use planning requirements for the wind farm met in order to initiate the approval procedure for the wind farm. Energiequelle was then able to obtain approval within nine months.

Tina Hermerding, Project Manager at Energiequelle GmbH, is very happy about the successful start of construction: “Our patience and that of the community of owners has paid off. We are delighted that our project in Teschendorf is making an important contribution to achieving the targets set for the expansion of wind energy in Lower Saxony.”

The wind farm is scheduled to go into operation in October 2025. Energiequelle will also be responsible for the technical and commercial management.

Photo: Enercon turbine E-138 (Copyright: Enercon)

Energiequelle GmbH has closed the 2023 financial year with a turnover of almost 247 million euros. The internationally active company, which recorded sales of 213 million euros in the previous year, thus achieved an increase of 16 percent. The figures are based on the construction of a transformer station and 22 wind turbines in Germany and Finland. The total output of the wind farms amounts to 120 MW and 31 MVA of transformer station capacity.

The company has also made gains in operational management. Contracts with a total output of 119 MW were won in tenders. Energiequelle currently manages more than 850 wind, solar and biogas plants with a total output of 1,760 MW, which produce around 2.9 billion kilowatt hours (kWh). This total amount corresponds to the consumption of over 960,000 households.

International growth
As in previous years, 2023 was characterized by strong growth. For example, 140 new employees were hired worldwide and offices were opened in Berlin, Münster, Stuttgart, Kiel (Germany) and Vaasa (Finland). Energiequelle also entered two new national markets. In South Africa, a subsidiary was founded in Cape Town and in Greece, the establishment of a branch in Athens is currently being driven forward.

Awards and certifications
Energiequelle received a number of awards last year. As an employer, the company received both the Leading Employer Award and the Kununu “Top Company” seal, as well as the Certificate of Excellence from the Corporate Health Awards for outstanding company health management.

In terms of creditworthiness, Energiequelle received both the CrefoZert creditworthiness certificate and Deutsche Bank’s certificate of eligibility as a central bank. The successful year was rounded off by the certification of the control room in accordance with ISO 27001.

Outlook
In 2024, 98 MW of wind and PV capacity is to be installed and two substations are to be connected to the grid. To achieve this goal, a further 100 skilled workers are to be hired. Energiequelle currently employs almost 600 people at 28 locations in six countries.