Norwegian Company Buys German Wind Farms for Refurbishment

The Statkraft company from Norway is ponying up EUR 413 million to acquire 35 old wind parks spread across seven regional states in Germany. The idea is to refurbish them so that they meet modern standards of efficiency and capacity.

The wind turbines Statkraft is buying are between 15 and 21 years old, meaning that in their present form they will soon no longer qualify for set energy prices under Germany’s Renewable Energies Act. So-called repowering accounted for nearly one quarter of new wind power capacity in Germany in 2022.

Two years ago Germany significantly eased permit procedures for refurbished wind farms. Size and capacity limits have also been raised.

“A significant part of the transition to clean energy in this country will take place through repowering,” Statkraft’s head of German operations, Stefan-Jörg Göbel, told business newspaper Handelsblatt. “The market is already there.”