By Kari Williamson

Iberdrola is currently applying for the permits from Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie, the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency.

The company bought the construction rights to the offshore wind farm in March 2010 from the joint venture between DEE Deutsche Erneuerbare Energien GmbH (Deutsche Bank Group) and Ventotec GmbH (GHF-Group).

The original plan was to use floating wind turbine foundations, but Iberdrola says it has decided to rather used fixed structures following an in-depths analysis of the project and the site.

Construction is slated in 2015 with operations starting in 2016.