Rollout just in time for official opening: Steelwind Nordenham produces Mega-Monopile with world’s largest diameter

Monopiles are foundation structures for offshore wind farms. They are made from thick-walled structural tubulars. The especially large diameter of the Mega-Monopile, as its name implies, makes it particularly suited for use in deep water and for turbines in the highest megawatt classes. Coinciding with the rollout of the Mega-Monopile is the official opening of the Steelwind Nordenham plant on September 18, 2014 – just two years after the symbolic groundbreaking ceremony and start of construction. In addition to the ceremony and speeches by Dillinger Hütte Chief Executive Officer Dr. Karlheinz Blessing, Lower Saxony’s Finance Minister Peter-Jürgen Schneider and Nordenham Mayor Hans Francksen, the employees will be celebrating the opening of “their” plant.

Steelwind Nordenham is a wholly owned subsidiary of AG der Dillinger Hüttenwerke. Around EUR 175 million has been invested since the decision was made to build the plant in September 2011. The city of Nordenham in Lower Saxony, located directly on the North Sea, offers ideal logistical conditions for the plant – both with respect to supplying the plant with premium steel plate from Dillinger Hütte and the subsidiary Dillinger France in Dunkirk, and to delivering the finished foundation structures by water. Monopiles can feature a diameter of up to 10 meters, a length of up to 120 meters, and can weigh up to 1,500 tons. After achieving full capacity in late 2016, Steelwind Nordenham will produce 100 monopile systems per year – which equates to an entire offshore wind farm.