Berlin - Today, the energy company ENGIE officially inaugurated the repowered wind farm in Querstedt-Badingen. Over the past two years, 11 wind turbines, which had been in operation for two decades, were dismantled and replaced by 3 new turbines. This allowed ENGIE to increase the wind farm installed capacity in the unified municipality of Bismark (approximately 20 kilometers west of Stendal) from 7.2 to 17.1 megawatts. With new powerful turbines and a total height of nearly 180 meters, the wind farm now generates four times as much energy on the same area as before, contributing to the German government’s climate goals. The new turbines, each with 5.7 megawatts, produce around 31 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. This theoretically covers the annual electricity needs of about 9,000 households.
„At ENGIE, we are committed to accelerating the transition to climate neutrality. This requires many individual steps, such as the repowering in Querstedt. I am particularly pleased that, due to technological developments, we are increasing energy output by a factor of four, with significantly fewer wind turbines,“
emphasizes Anne Bosser, Managing Director of Renewables from ENGIE in Germany.
The dismantled old turbines are being reused in the spirit of the circular economy. The materials were collected and processed and are largely available for new industrial applications.
To mark the opening of the repowered wind farm, ENGIE hosted a wind farm festival for the region. The mayor of the unified municipality of Bismark (Altmark), Annegret Schwarz, and Malte Künzer, Director Project Development & Construction Wind & PV at ENGIE Deutschland Erneuerbare, symbolically opened the wind farm by cutting a ribbon. The wind farm festival offered many attractions and a colorful entertainment program for young and old.
“We are pleased with the modernization of the wind farm in our community. This investment in renewable energy shows that Bismark and its districts are actively contributing to the energy transition. The collaboration with ENGIE is a good example of how municipalities and companies can jointly develop sustainable solutions for the future,” underlines Annegret Schwarz.
ENGIE has already completed several repowering projects in Germany, including in Karstädt (Brandenburg) and Lövenich (North Rhine-Westphalia). Further projects are in preparation, as well as greenfield projects in onshore wind and ground-mounted photovoltaics. The goal is to continuously expand activities in renewable energy in the coming years. With 41 gigawatts of installed renewable capacity, ENGIE is one of the leading companies worldwide. By 2030, this figure is expected to nearly double to 80 gigawatts.