Pioneering off-shore wind farm chooses Sepura

Pioneering off-shore wind farm chooses Sepura

Sepura has secured the contract to supply TETRA radios to Alpha Ventus, the first off-shore wind farm in Germany. The radios will operate on the advanced digital communication system supplied by 3T Communications AG from Germany.

The Alpha Ventus off-shore wind farm is a pioneering project jointly undertaken by EWE AG, E.ON Climate & Renewables and Vattenfall Europe. Located 45 kilometres north of the island of Borkum, Germany, in water approximately 30 metres deep, Alpha Ventus’ 12 wind turbines and off-shore transformer station make up the first wind farm to be erected at sea under genuine off-shore conditions. EWE TEL GmbH (Oldenburg) built the phone and digital communication technology for the entire wind park and selected 3T Communications AG and Sepura for the digital radio system.

The new digital radio solution covers the off-shore platform, the 12 wind turbines and the operations centre in Norden. It will enable GPS localisation and will also be used for communications with helicopters. This is the first major project by EWE TEL which sees the deployment of TETRA technology.

Sepura will supply STP hand-portable and SRG mobile radios for use off-shore and on land and to maintain communications with the helicopters. Sepura SRG mobile radios will also be installed on ships servicing the wind-farm.

Mr. Erich Pfaffelmayer from 3T Communications commented: “Sepura’s robust hand-portable radios with high power and accurate GPS were the ideal choice for the wind-farm’s operatives because of the challenging environment and climatic conditions in the North Sea”. Mr. Pfaffelmayer continued: “In particular, the new communications system meets a fundamental requirement as it displays user’s location on a dispatcher in Alpha Ventus’ operational command and control centre situated in Norden. A geographical information system in the command and control centre will display the ships’ accurate location thanks to Sepura’s highly sensitive and competitive GPS receiver”.

Holger Witt, project manager from EWE TEL GmbH commented: “Installation and maintenance of wind farms’ equipment requires a powerful and reliable digital radio system. The North Sea environment can be extremely tough and demanding, and both infrastructure and terminals must meet the highest standards at all levels, from ease of use to durability and performance. In addition, the design, construction and integration of the Alpha Ventus research project into the power grid will provide essential experience in future development of commercial offshore wind farms”.

Kasper Barfoed, Regional Sales Director for Sepura, said: ‘This important sales win reaffirms the successful partnership between Sepura and 3T in Germany. At Sepura we are proud to have been involved in this unique project in such a forward-looking field. In addition, this prestigious contract is a powerful endorsement of our expertise, experience and knowledge of the complex communications requirements of the utilities sector.”