Positive
Project advancing - milestone achieved
High Impact
Major milestone or critical setback
On 23 August 2004, the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) issued the SeeAnlV Genehmigungsbescheid to Sandbank24 GmbH & Co. KG (Oldenburg) for the construction and operation of 80 wind turbines at the offshore wind farm then named "Sandbank 24" (later renamed Sandbank) in the German Exclusive Economic Zone (AWZ) of the North Sea, approximately 90 km west of Sylt on a 59 km² project area in water depths of 22-38 m. The application had been filed on 23 July 2001 (originally for 981 WEA, reduced to 80 in the regulatory review as a pilot phase). BSH issued a deadline-extension Änderungsbescheid on 15 December 2011 extending the construction-start deadline to 31 December 2016. Vattenfall acquired the project rights in November 2011, partnering with Stadtwerke München (49% stake). The as-built project was reduced to 72 Siemens SWT-4.0-130 turbines (288 MW) on monopile foundations; offshore construction began 8 July 2015, the last turbine was installed 21 January 2017 (three months ahead of schedule), and official inauguration followed in Hamburg on 23 July 2017.