REpower lands 52-MW wind farm contract

Langres Sud Wind Farm delivers 52 MW from 26 REpower MM92 turbines in Champagne-Ardenne, France, built by Eole-RES (RES Group), advancing renewable energy, onshore wind capacity, and grid-ready commissioning slated for October 2010.

REpower Systems AG has secured a contract for the construction of 26 wind turbines for a new wind farm being established in Haute-Marne, in the Champagne-Ardennes region of northeastern France.

The Langres Sud wind farm is being built by Eole-RES SA, now part of the UK-based RES Group. The wind farm will have a 52-megawatt (MW) capacity and will consist of 26 of REpower's MM92 turbines, which have a hub height of 88.5 metres, while the company recently launched its most powerful wind turbine to date.

The project will be carried out by the French subsidiary of REpower. Olivier Perot, CEO of REpower SAS, said: "We are proud to have been selected for this project in the Champagne-Ardennes region, where we have already set up several wind farms. We look forward to collaborating with Eole-RES in the future in this and, hopefully, other projects." The wind turbines are ready to be delivered, and the wind farm will be commissioned by October 2010.

Earlier this month, Repower secured a 295-MW contract to supply wind turbines for the Nordsee Ost offshore wind farm near the island of Heligoland in Germany, while also landing a wind farm contract in Turkey earlier this year.

France is becoming an increasingly important market for REpower in Europe, and one of the biggest outside of the United States, with plans to tender 600 offshore turbines shaping future demand. In the last fiscal year, the company erected 133 turbines in France with a total generating capacity of 266 MW, and secured a 150 MW order from EDF Energies Nouvelles that strengthened its pipeline.

"As before, France remains one of the most important wind markets in Europe, and we are delighted to be bringing together for the first time the long-standing experience of Eole-RES and the expertise of Repower," explained Per Hornung Pedersen, CEO of REpower Systems AG. "So far we have set up almost 400 turbines with a total generating capacity of some 750 MW in various French regions and wish to expand our position here even further in the future."

REpower and RES Group have been working together on a growing number of projects across different countries. Last November, REpower signed a significant framework contract with EDF Energies Nouvelles SA and RES Canada, part of the RES Group, to deliver turbines for generating up to 954 MW across five wind projects in the province of Québec, and agreed to supply 40 turbines to EDF Energies under related projects. That contract guaranteed a minimum purchase capacity of 748 MW.

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