Met Office signs two new weather forecast service contracts

17 Feb 2016 01:51 PM

The new services will help ensure the safe construction of two offshore wind farms in Germany.

The Met Office has signed new contracts to provide forecast services to help with the safe construction and successful commissioning of two German offshore wind farms.  The wind farms are to be built in the south west of the German Bight area of the North Sea.

A 54 turbine, 332MW offshore wind project is due to be completed in April 2017.   Nordsee One GmbH will use a range of Met Office services to ensure safety throughout the construction. It is jointly owned by Northland Power Inc. and RWEI Innogy and will be using a web based forecast system (Safesee™) together with a site specific, 5 day forecaster-reviewed, marine forecast for weather and warning information (Premium Tab & Graph). The Met Office will also be helping the company to plan shipping routes in open water and to move personnel and equipment safely and efficiently (Port forecasts and SafeVoyage).

In addition, Veja Mate Offshore Project GmbH is using the Met Office's services during its Inter Array Cable campaign from approximately August 2016 until March 2017. The offshore wind farm will consist of 67 turbines, generating 402 MW each year. Veja Mate, which is currently owned byThe Highland Group (Siemens Financial Services and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners) will be using Premium Tab & Graph and SafeVoyage from Hartlepool to the construction site, plus forecasts on request for additional shipping routes during the IAC campaign.

Met Office's Head of European Business Development, Hayley Wallbank, said: "We are delighted to have been selected to work in close partnership with Nordsee One and Veja Mate to provide timely and accurate forecasts which will help facilitate confident, safe decision-making during the construction of these large offshore wind farms.  Following the Met Office's successful launch into Germany at Wind Energy Hamburg in 2014, considerable investment has been made to appoint local representation in Hamburg and integrate fully into renewable energy clusters and workinggroups across Germany. This helps to ensure that the Met Office fully understands and responds to the needs of clients."