[Cologne, ] After planning and construction phases spanning several years, Trianel's Borkum wind farm started operation on 1 February 2015. The offshore wind farm's 40 AREVA Wind M5000 turbines with a rated power of 5 MW each are located about 45 km from the coast of the North Sea island of Borkum. Based on an expected capacity of 4,000 full load hours, the wind farm will produce approximately 800 gigawatt hours of electricity (800 million kWh) each year. This is enough energy to power about 200,000 households. Thirty-three municipal utilities and regional power companies from Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland as well as the Trianel municipal utility network in Aachen have invested in the offshore wind farm.
GÖRG has been advising Trianel in relation to all legal matters connected with the realisation of the offshore wind farm since 2006. Its services include, among other things, advice on the acquisition of project rights, corporate and tax structuring of the project company, structuring and negotiation of all project agreements, acquisition of a permit from the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency as well as the project financing. In addition, GÖRG advises Trianel on all energy law issues such as, for example, the grid connection, Trianel's rights arising from the delay in connecting it to the grid, feed-in compensation under the Renewable Energy Sources Act as well as direct marketing.
The project has presented many challenges from the technical standpoint, contractually and in terms of financing. The delay of over two years in establishing the grid connection was a source of particular difficulty. GÖRG
represents Trianel both in damages litigation against the network operator TenneT before the Bayreuth Regional Court as well as in the assertion of compensation claims under § 17e (2) of the Energy Industry Act.
Trianel is a long-standing client of GÖRG's and the two have enjoyed close relations for many years. The law firm acted for Trianel in connection with the financing of the Trianel coal-fired power station in Lünen (Germany's largest power station financing project) (see our press release of 31 July 2008), in connection with the extension of the Trianel gas storage facility in Epe (see our press release of 12 September 2008) and in respect of the acquisition of two onshore wind farms in Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt (see press release of 5 August 2014).
Trianel's advisers
Dr. Achim Compes, lead partner, Cologne
Dr. Wibke Schumacher, partner, company law, tax law and financing, Cologne
Jan Schellenberger, partner, project contracts, Cologne
Dr. Mark O. Kersting, LL.M., partner, financing, Frankfurt am Main
Dr. Christoph Riese, partner, public law, Berlin
Thoralf Herbold, associate partner, project contracts, energy and public law, Cologne
Dr. Carmen Schneider, associate partner, project contracts and energy law, Cologne
Dr. Peter Schimanek, counsel, procurement law, Berlin
Dr. Ruth Büchl-Winter, associate, company and tax law, Cologne
