Adwen

In 2007, the French nuclear energy company Areva acquired 51% of the German company Multibrid, which specialized in the creation and production of offshore wind turbines of high power. Areva's full control over Adwen was established in 2010 with the purchase of the remaining 49% of the German company. Multibrid was renamed Areva Wind and became a subsidiary of the French group.

In addition, in 2009, Areva SA acquired the PN Rotor rotor blade manufacturing company, which also became its subsidiary Areva Blades.

Since the beginning of 2014, Areva has been negotiating with Gamesa for the possible creation of a joint venture (50/50) of offshore wind energy.

However, the subsequent restructuring of Areva changed these plans. In September 2016, Gamesa merged with Siemens’s wind power division, and bought the remaining 50% share of Areva in Adwen for € 60 million ^[2] .

Wind Turbine M5000 Areva Wind was one of the first in the world, which was specially created for use on the high seas. It was designed by Aerodyn Energiesysteme GmbH. The first prototype of the M5000 turbine was designed in Bremerhaven and installed at the end of 2004. In December 2011, Areva Wind announced plans ^[3] to build an M5000-135 generator with a rotor measuring 135 meters on the M5000 platform. Its blades are 66 meters long, 10 meters longer than the M5000-116 model. The swept area of ​​rotor rotation increased by 35% and reached 14,326 m². The new design of the gondola was specially adapted for marine conditions, which simplified its maintenance. In 2013, Areva Wind introduced a new wind generator with a capacity of 8 MW, with a rotor size of 180 meters. At that time, it was the largest rotor on the market. A three-blade rotor with a blade length of 88 meters was installed on the mast of the generator with a height of 90 meters. The total weight of the structure is 520 tons.

The 5MW M5000 generators have been working on land since 2007, and since the end of 2009, the first experimental fleet of marine wind generators Alpha Ventus , with a total capacity of 60MW, was equipped off the coast of Germany in the Bremen district of Bremerhaven.

The 400MW Global Tech I wind farm is located 140 kilometers north-west from the coast of East Frisia in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Germany, far from shipping lanes. The contract for the supply of 80 5MW turbines AD 5-116 was signed with Wetfeet Offshore Windenergy GmbH in September 2009. The installation of the first 40 turbines was completed in April 2014. All turbines were fully installed and launched on July 27, 2015.

In the third quarter of 2015, in the neighborhood of Alpha Ventus, 45 kilometers north of the German island of Borkum , the first stage of the Trianel Windpark Borkum park was introduced. The installation of 40 Adwen M5000 turbines with a total capacity of 200MW cost more than € 1 billion. The plans include the installation of another 40 similar turbines and a doubling of the fleet capacity ^[4] .

In 2012, the Spanish company Iberdrola signed a contract with Areva Wind for the supply of M5000 wind generators for Wikinger Park 35 kilometers from the German island of Rügen . Park power is 350MW. The project cost € 1.4 billion. The park was connected to the national grid at the end of 2017 ^[5] .

There are three similar projects of offshore wind power off the coast of France. Each of them implies installation of 62 Adwen generators with a capacity of 8MW (modification SG 8.0-167 DD) with a total capacity of 496MW.

• In January 2018, a contract was signed between Ailes Marines and Siemens Games Renewable Energy to install a wind farm off the coast of France ( Saint-Brieuc commune) ^[6] .
• At the end of 2017, the French Biodiversity Agency agreed in principle to build an offshore wind park Dieppe-Le Tréport. The installation of wind generators was challenged by fishermen ^[7] .
• The construction of the Ye-Noirmoutier wind park with a similar capacity was much more resistant. It is planned to be installed at 11.7 kilometers from the island of Ye and 16.5 kilometers from Noirmoutier . Commissioning is scheduled after 2021. Public hearings on the wind farm were held from April 4 to May 23, 2018. Environmental associations were not satisfied with their results and sued the city of Nantes, who said that he was not competent to make a decision. The case was transferred to the State Council of France, which rejected the complaint ^[8] .

Wind power plant