REpower to construct five REpower 5M 5-megawatt turbines in Büttel/Schleswig-Holstein

REpower CEO Prof. Vahrenholt: “Excellent support from the wind energy state Schleswig-Holstein”

Hamburg, 7 September 2007. With an official ceremony, REpower Systems AG (WKN 617703) today presented its mobile production facility for manufacturing five 5-megawatt turbines in Büttel (district of Dithmarschen). The company presented this unique production hall in the presence of the Schleswig-Holstein Minister of Economic Affairs, Dietrich Austermann, the State Secretary for Science, Jost de Jager, as well as the mayors of the cities of Brunsbüttel and Büttel. REpower will produce the 5MW-class nacelles in Büttel on the future site of the wind farm.

The nacelles of the smaller REpower MM (2MW output) production series are manufactured in the company’s fixed production sites in Husum or Trampe. The flexible production method for the five 5M turbines in Büttel has an advantage over this as the cross-country transport for the finished nacelles, which are almost the same size as a detached house, presents logistical problems as well as being more expensive. The production hall, the structural calculations of which have been checked, is 100 metres long and 24 metres wide.

Two of the five turbines have already been constructed and the other three are expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Dietrich Austermann, Minister of Economic Affairs of the Federal State of Schleswig-Holstein, referred to the turbines as evidence of the production of state-of-the-art technology in Schleswig-Holstein. “These efficient power plants will allow REpower to assert its ground in the offshore business in the future. Today, we considerably approached our aim which is the installation of a total capacity of 2,200 megawatts off the Schleswig-Holstein coast.” In this regard, the Minister of Economic Affairs recalled his initiative to increase the tariff for wind power in the offshore business by three cents. “We need investors right now if we want to keep pace with this business”, reasons Mr. Austermann.

In his speech, REpower CEO Prof. Dr. Fritz Vahrenholt praised the support given by the Schleswig-Holstein state government and the local authorities as well as recalling that: “30 years ago, an oil refinery was to be built on this exact spot. There is no better illustration of the paradigm shift – the end of the oil age, the start of CO2-free, renewable energies – than the fact that five REpower wind energy turbines are to be constructed here. We wish to thank the state government which has given us such committed support. However, none of this would have been possible without the work carried out by our engineers who developed our turbine and without our production and service employees who are able to construct this turbine on land and on sea and to operate it with such high availability.”

In future, REpower, Germany’s third largest manufacturer, will produce its 5M offshore turbines at new sites, in Bremerhaven and Osterrönfeld.

A large selection of photo material about the installation of the 5M onshore and offshore is available for download online: www.repower.de (click on the link “photo archive).