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Energy Supply Wind Energy in Hamburg

Hamburg is pushing the expansion of wind power. Wind turbines in rural areas and the port supply the city with clean and renewable energy.

Wind turbines on top of the Georgswerder Energieberg

Wind Energy in Hamburg

As a city-state within the German federation, Hamburg has a very small area in comparison with other federal states. Nevertheless, Hamburg has managed to install 67 wind turbines as of 2023, which generate electric energy for more than 100,000 households. While this is already an enormous achievement for a city-state, Hamburg still intends to dedicate 0.5% of the city area to the generation of wind power.

Wind power in Hamburg’s port 

Due to the shortage of space for energy infrastructure, Hamburg had to find a very special location for additional wind turbines: right in the centre of its port. In 2017 six new turbines were installed on the premises of aluminium and steel manufacturing companies, who use the clean energy to produce their metals more sustainably. 

Building a wind farm with half a dozen of wind turbines right in the middle of an industrial district is very rare and it comes with unusual challenges. For example, the project design team had to implement extensive fire precautions. And at a total height of over 650 feet (200m), there need to be cameras and sensors to detect ice on the rotors of the turbines early.

Hamburg already has a history in finding extraordinary locations for wind turbines. Since the 1990s there have been turbines on top of the Energieberg, lit. ‘energy mountain’, a former landfill in Georgswerder. But the Senate is also looking for additional locations to generate wind energy in a process that involves various public offices. 

Heat storage for excess wind energy 

If a windy day produces more electricity than is actually needed, Siemens Gamesa has built a heat storage facility on their premises in the port. Excess wind energy is used to heat up tons of volcanic rocks, which can store the heat for a longer time. If the energy is needed again, it can be transformed back into electricity. This way, wind farms don’t have to be shut down as frequently. 

Battery-operated wind farm 

The Curslack wind farm is also called a ‘hybrid wind farm’ because it contains a battery to store excess energy. The purpose of this battery is to help stabilise the electricity grid if the amount of energy generated from wind and solar power fluctuates. 

Another particularity of the Curslack wind farm is that it is part of the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW Hamburg), providing students with a hands-on approach to renewable energies and researchers with ideal testing grounds. It is also part of the NEW 4.0 project to prove that Hamburg and the neighbouring state Schleswig-Holstein can sustain themselves entirely with renewable energies by 2035.

Wind Energy