E.ON has opened another large wind farm near Poznan in Poland. With a generating capacity of 52.5 megawatts, Wielkopolska is one of the country's largest and technically most advanced wind farms. 21 turbines located at seven sites around Poznan will deliver clean wind energy to as many as 45,000 households. E.ON has invested around EUR100 million in this wind farm.

Poland plays a key role for E.ON in its efforts to push renewables in Central and Eastern Europe. Back in 2006, E.ON opened an office in Szczecin and has since invested close to EUR200 million in three projects already completed. With the commissioning of Wielkopolska, E.ON now has a market share of roughly 10 percent and ranks among the top five companies generating wind power in Poland. This makes E.ON one of the most important investors in the development of green power in the country.

Wind power is of special importance for Poland's ecological energy production because the country has excellent high wind-yield sites in the interior. The new wind farm is part of E.ON's medium-term plan to increase the share of renewables in its generation portfolio to some 10 gigawatts by 2015, which corresponds to the generating capacity of ten large coal-fired power stations. To this end, E.ON will invest EUR8 billion in renewable energies between 2007 and 2012. E.ON is well on track with its wind and solar power activities. Since 2007, the company has expanded its renewables capacities from 400 megawatts to roughly 3,500 megawatts. By the end of the year it will have 4 gigawatts.

Tags: E.ON