Approved: Die Prokon Regenerative Energien eG is allowed to replace nine existing wind turbines with four more powerful new ones in Quarnstedt, Schleswig-Holstein. "The manufacturers have the next generation of turbines on offer – we are taking advantage of that," says Prokon CEO Henning von Stechow. The Nordex N163 turbines have a capacity of seven megawatts each and stand at 200 meters high. The process duration for the repowering project in Quarnstedt was exemplary: the process took just seven months. "The swift handling demonstrates that the energy transition has received a new priority even in the authorities," says Prokon board member Katharina Beyer.
During repowering, old installations are replaced by new and more powerful wind turbines. Although there are often fewer installations involved, the electricity output is significantly higher. This is also the case at the Quarnstedt-Störkathen wind farm. The four new wind turbines in the wind farm have a total installed capacity of 28 megawatts. "That's more than twice as much as before," says von Stechow. The total energy output of the new installations is expected to be around 52.2 million kilowatt hours annually. Prokon plans to begin dismantling the old installations in the first half of 2026, followed by the construction of the new ones in the second half of the year. A grid connection with sufficient capacity is expected to be in place by the end of 2027. Currently, Prokon is evaluating whether a temporary connection via the old wind farm with reduced capacity is economically viable.
Meanwhile, a large wind farm project was completed in the Finnish Björkliden. Located in the municipality of Närpes in the western region of Ostrobothnia, the park consists of seven Nordex wind turbines with a total capacity of 41.3 megawatts. Prokon holds 19.9 percent of the shares in the wind park. At the celebratory opening on 19th June, Katharina Beyer was also present along with our project partner Neoen and the electricity customer Equinix.
Prokon Energy Cooperative, with its 40,000 members, has so far built a total of 72 wind parks with 410 wind turbines in Germany, Finland, and Poland. They have an installed capacity of 872.3 megawatts and generate over one billion kilowatt hours of green electricity per year.
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