VSB has secured €211 million in project financing from Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) and Deutsche Zentral-Genossenschaftsbank (DZ Bank) to repower the Elster wind farm. €175 million of the €211 million loan has been financed on a long-term basis with a maturity of more than 20 years. Reportedly, the original Elster wind farm began operations in 2000 with a capacity of 30 MW. It is situated in the towns of Zahna-Elster and Jessen in the Wittenberg district in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Furthermore, the repowering will see 50 of the company’s old wind turbines replaced with 16 newer, more efficient ones. Less than two-thirds of the initial wind farm land will be utilised.
Moreover, the wind farm will now be equipped with 16 Siemens Gamesa SG 6.6-155 wind turbines, each having a 6.6 MW generating capacity. The total capacity of the repowered wind farm will be 105.6 MW. It is expected to be operational in the first half of 2025. Additionally, VSB received permits for the wind farm’s repowering in February 2023. Overall, the wind farm will generate 235 gigawatt-hours of clean energy annually, which is enough to power 67,000 households. The project will also help in lowering 180,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
In September 2023, Lhyfe finalised a corporate power purchase agreement with VSB Energies Nouvelles concerning a 13.2 MW wind farm in France that will produce electricity for green hydrogen production.
