Clifford Chance has advised EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG on its acquisition of the Albatros offshore wind farm project from Konsortium OW EVS, a joint venture of STRABAG, Austria, and the Norderland Group.

This offshore wind project, which has approval for 79 wind turbines in the 5-7 megawatt class, is located 105 kilometres from the coast in the German sector of the North Sea. The wind farm covers an area of 39 square kilometres at a water depth of 39-40 metres. With the acquisition of the Albatros project (about 400 MW) and the offshore wind farms Hohe See (around 500 MW) and He Dreiht (around 700 MW), EnBW's offshore portfolio now comprises more than 1,600 MW of approved offshore capacity in the German sector of the North Sea. The parties have agreed not to disclose any information about the purchase price.

Parallel to this transaction, the developers of the Albatros wind farm project, as well as EnBW Hohe See GmbH, had filed a complaint with the Higher Regional Court (OLG) in Düsseldorf concerning the Federal Network Agency's capacity allocation methods and subsequently applied for interlocutory relief. As a matter of background, the Federal Network Agency intended to modify, at short notice, the grid connection of several offshore wind farms in the North Sea. Following a recommendation from the Higher Regional Court in Düsseldorf, the parties agreed on a settlement in the court hearing of 18 December 2014 stipulating, inter alia, that the Federal Network Agency is to make available additional free capacities for the wind farms concerned.

The Clifford Chance team was led by partner Dr. André Schwanna (Corporate) and partner Thomas Burmeister (Energy) and comprised partner Dr. Joachim Schütze (Antitrust), senior associates Dr. Werner Brickwedde (Corporate) Dr. Guido Hermeier, Dr. Martin Weitenberg and associate Dr. Lukas Ernst (all Energy), associate Dr. Jochen Buckel (Corporate), counsel Dr. Mathias Elspass and senior associate Dr. Jutta Mues (both Energy/Public Law) – all Düsseldorf – as well as partner Dr. Stefan Behrens and senior associate Dr. Benjamin Büttner (both Tax, Frankfurt). Thomas Burmeister, Dr. Guido Hermeier and Dr. Lukas Ernst acted as counsel in the proceedings before the Higher Regional Court in Düsseldorf.