Clean electricity from the High Seas

source: Spiegel online

Forty-five kilometers from the North Sea island of Borkum, three giant wind turbines made their debut on Wednesday at Germany’s first offshore wind park.

Construction began in 2007, with massive foundations that had to be anchored to the sea floor, sometimes at a depth of more than 30 meters.
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his first offshore wind park, dubbed “Alpha Ventus,” should be complete by year’s end. Hundreds more will have to follow if Germany is going to meet its renewable energy goals.

An offshore platform processes the electricity.

Then it transmits it back to the mainland through a thick cable, shown here at the Groodepolderdeich near the island of Norderney in Germany’s East Frisia region.