The FINO Project

General information

With its challenging climate protection objectives and concrete implementation measures, Europe is paving the way for both more climate protection and secure energy supplies.
In their Renewable Energy Sources Act (Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, EEG) the Federal Government specified that the share of renewables in gross electricity consumption is to be increased to at least 30 percent by 2020, followed by a continuous increase. In 2030 around half of Germany's electricity consumption should be covered by renewables.

In order to achieve this target the huge potential of offshore wind energy generation has to be utilised. It is therefore proposed to erect offshore wind farms with a total capacity of around 20,000-25,000 megawatts in the North Sea and Baltic Sea by 2030. They will be able to cover about 15 percent of German electricity demand.

To achieve this aim, the Federal Government initiated the building of three research platforms in the North Sea and Baltic Sea. FINO3 is directly related to the research platforms FINO1 (45 kilometer north of the island Borkum (North Sea)) and FINO2 (40 kilometer north-west of the island Rügen).

Objectives of FINO3

The construction and operation of the planned offshore wind power plants will place new demands on all parties involved in this process. The wind power plants and all other required technical facilities will have to be further developed or even completely redesigned for use in offshore areas. Operational concepts must be drawn up and models for financing designed. Research and industry often require data, as a basis for their work, which is either not yet available or available only in insufficient quantity and quality.

In contrast to the development of offshore wind power in other European countries, only deep-water sites in remote locations off the coast are eligible for such undertakings in Germany. However, at an international level, experience in the construction of offshore wind farms under such conditions is thus far not available.The FINO3 project aims to reduce the associated risks and to accelerate the development of the planned offshore wind farms.

The project consists of the design, development, construction, erection and operation of a research platform in the North Sea. Research and technology projects conducted by different institutions of higher education and companies will form the core activities on the platform, while small and medium-sized enterprises and institutions of higher education and research will be afforded the opportunity to carry out their own, offshore-related research, development or test projects.

The technological and ecological challenges associated with offshore areas will form the core of future research conducted on FINO3. The research projects are expected to generate new and useful results with regard to foundation structures, wind and wave loads, lightning intensity and a number of other offshore-related parameters. This gives the FINO3 project enormous potential to promote the expansion of offshore wind power generation in Schleswig-Holstein.