NIEUWEGEIN, The Netherlands, September 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Ballast Nedam has signed a contract around 250 million Euro with wpd for the engineering, supply and installation of 80 foundations at the Butendiek offshore wind farm in Germany. The Butendiek offshore wind farm is located in the German Bight, 32 kilometers west of the German island Sylt. It is expected that financial close of the project is achieved ultimately by the end of this year.

The water depth at the Butendiek offshore wind farm is in between 17 meters and 22 meters. The wind farm consists of 80 turbines, each with a capacity of 3.6 MW, 288 MW in total. The foundation comprises a monopile (steel tubular pile) and a transition piece, the latter connects the monopile with the wind turbine's tower. The design and fabrication activities of the foundations will take place during 2012, the installation is scheduled for 2013.

Ballast Nedam will use its Heavy Lift Vessel (HLV) Svanen for the installation of the foundations. Currently the HLV Svanen is installing foundations at the London Array offshore wind farm in the United Kingdom, having recently successfully completed 51 foundations at the Walney 2 offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea. In 2012 the HLV Svanen will be active at the Anholt offshore wind farm in Denmark.

Theo Bruijninckx, CEO of Ballast Nedam: "This contract is an excellent result of our focus on this nichemarket.  It confirms our position as being one of the leading contractors in the emerging European offshore wind market."

Ballast Nedam sees good opportunities for further work in the offshore wind market in the years to come.  

wpd

wpd is a worldwide developer and operator of windfarms. In total, the company has carried out projects with around 1,400 turbines and an output of 2.1 GW. Currently wpd is planning projects with 7,000 MW in total. More over, the group is one of Europe's leading offshore developer with a pipeline of 10,000 MW.  Actually wpd is preparing the implementation of the Butendiek project.

Ballast Nedam

Ballast Nedam has a leading position in construction and infrastructure. The company operates mainly in the Netherlands on integrated and other projects for companies, public authorities and housing consumers, in the fields of mobility, housing, employment, leisure and energy. Ballast Nedam operates internationally in various areas of expertise, such as foundations for offshore wind turbines. Ballast Nedam supplies project, process and contract management in the development, implementation and management phases. The company also provides specialized know-how and skills, and semi-finished and finished products. Ballast Nedam is listed on NYSE Euronext in Amsterdam. The share is included in the Amsterdam Small Cap Index.

Note for the editorial staff:

Further details can be obtained from Ballast Nedam N.V., Adrie van Kessel, telephone +31(0)30-285-41-61

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SOURCE Ballast Nedam NV