E.ON says it leads in wind technology

GERMANY - German energy company E.ON is advancing wind energy in the European community more than any of its rivals, statistics indicate.

A study by the European Wind Energy Association said E.ON is leading the European energy sector with 118 new wind farms connected during the first half of the year.

E.ON during the first half of the year installed the first deep-water wind farm off the German coast that has the capacity to produce 180 megawatts of energy.

The German energy company said it installed 90 wind turbines at a 207-megawatt offshore wind farm near the Danish and German coasts in the Baltic Sea.

The company noted in a statement that its London Array offshore wind farm will be the largest of its kind with 1 gigawatts of installed capacity by 2015.

Of all of the new wind capacity brought on stream this year, 64 percent was developed by E.ON.

Frank Mastiaux, the chief executive at the climate and renewables division of E.ON, said the figures mentioned in the European report "clearly demonstrate" his company's commitment to wind technology.

E.ON since 2001 has invested more than $1.2 billion in offshore wind energy projects.