UKA has ordered 20 Nordex N163/6.X turbines for the 140MW Papenburg wind farm, to be built on Mercedes-Benz’s automobile testing site in Lower Saxony.
The project, one of the largest onshore wind farms in Germany, will provide the automaker with electricity for at least 25 years under a supply contract signed in May 2023.
Turbines with a hub height of 164 metres will be supported by concrete foundations and hybrid tower parts from Max Bögl Wind AG.
First turbines are expected to go online on a trial basis in 2027, with the full project due to supply about 20% of Mercedes-Benz’s annual electricity demand in Germany once complete.
Gernot Gauglitz (pictured, centre), managing partner at UKA Group, said: “This project shows that UKA, which generates its own climate-friendly electricity, is an attractive supplier even to large industrial corporations.”
Nordex CEO José Luis Blanco (pictured, left with Stefan Bogl, right)) welcomed the order, noting it extends the company’s collaboration with UKA and demonstrates trust in its technology.
Mercedes-Benz production chief Jörg Burzer added: “The wind farm in Papenburg is an important building block of our sustainable business strategy … we are proud as Mercedes-Benz to expand the use of wind energy in Germany with the new wind farm.”
The Papenburg project is part of UKA’s wider 11GW German pipeline and follows the developer securing approvals and tenders for multiple large-scale wind farms in 2025.