Company Announcement - On March 10-12, wind energy specialists from all over the world met in Copenhagen on the occasion of the EWEA OFFSHORE 2015. Tractebel Engineering and Lahmeyer International, subsidiaries of the GDF SUEZ Group, presented their expanded range of services together in Hall C1 at Stand B3. These included concepts for yield maximisation and comprehensive technical and commercial services for offshore wind power plants.

The two international engineering companies *) presented successful and recent offshore wind energy projects, as well as their expanded range of services. This covers technical and scientific as well as energy-production aspects of offshore wind power plants. In accordance with client requirements they have capabilities for all project phases. Starting with the project idea and technical and economic feasibility, through yield-optimised wind farm configuration including the related wind turbine assessments, consultancy in the fields of foundation concepts and procurement strategies. For construction this includes erection and commissioning, up to active attendance of the economic operation phase.

In December 2014 Tractebel Engineering acquired the Lahmeyer Group. Lahmeyer now is an independent business unit of Tractebel Engineering, and thus also part of the GDF SUEZ Group. Lahmeyer and Tractebel Engineering rank among the largest international engineering companies providing consultancy services for public and private clients.

Advice for Investors and Owners
The experts support European offshore wind energy  projects and give advice to investors, lenders, and owners on technical and economic issues.

Besides technical Due Diligence studies they perform detailed analyses. This way Lahmeyer has validated numerous projects by means of in-house calculations and energy yield assessments (often focused on wake losses, overall efficiency or O&M strategies). In addition, the specialists verify investment costsand review operating costs in detail.

Tractebel Engineering showed their comprehensive experience for planning and implementation of offshore projects, mainly focusing on electro-technical concepts.

Comprehensive Project Experience
The expert teams dispose of comprehensive experience for wind energy projects. For example, they have worked on more than 600 projects with installed capacities of more than 80 GW. They performed Due Diligence studies, evaluated wind potentials, and developed feasibility studies. Moreover, their tasks involved wind mappings, installation of met mast wind measuring systems, erection supervision, and operation and maintenance supervision.

In addition, Tractebel Engineering and Lahmeyer International have already participated in some 100 offshore wind projects with a total capacity of more than 25 GW in the North Sea and Baltic Sea, in North America and Asia.

Recent Projects
Lahmeyer International supports the investment company Macquarie Capital Europe as Technical Consultant for the acquisition of shares of the 288 MW offshore wind farm EnBW Baltic 2 in the Baltic Sea. Project closure is expected to take place in summer 2015, simultaneously with the final commissioning of the offshore wind farm presently under construction.

Tractebel Engineering has been Owner’s Engineer for C-Power (Belgium) throughout all 3 project phases. This large offshore wind park on the Thornton Bank off the Belgian coast involves 54 wind turbines with a total capacity of 325 MW and generates over 1 000 GWh per year. Services provided are wind turbine and substructure package management as well as support to the procurement. For this assistance, 15 employees have been involved on a continuous basis in the site management and coordination. Other services for this project include site investigation campaigns, design basis and conceptual design of foundations in development phase, contractual technical requirements and owner’s engineer role during construction throughout the different phases of the project.