The largest German North Sea wind farm "BARD Offshore I" was ceremoniously opened by the Federal Minister Dr. Philipp Rösler on 26^th August 2013. It is situated around 100 km off the island of Borkum in 40 m water depth and has 80 wind turbines which produce a cumulated power of 400 megawatts. "BARD Offshore I" is the first commercially used and currently the most powerful offshore wind farm in Germany and has proven that the technological challenges of the offshore wind energy branch can be mastered.

Large scale projects often come with challenges which BARD, as a pioneer of the offshore wind energy branch, rises to with great care and "expert advice". For example, the initial corrosion protection of the steel surfaces was performed as a common, solvent containing, 4-layer coating system which is nearly impossible to renew at the adverse object and climate conditions in the North Sea. Drying and interlayer adhesion issues, solvent inclusions, plasticiser migration and too low layer thickness are additional risks / exclusion criteria. These systems no longer correspond to the state of the art and therefore are not to be recommended for future offshore projects.

Based on our well tested AB-COR^® - products and with the help of FROSIO inspector Mr. Wolfgang Friese we have developed Offshore-Repair-Kits for application on the high seas. With AB-COR^® 950 SW Repair and AB-COR^® 971 Repair we offer the perfect solution for "one day" repairs onshore as well as offshore. The advantage of this thick layer system is that the single layer corrosion protection coating AB-COR^® 950 SW Repair can be overcoated with AB-COR^® 971 Repair immediately after its application "wet to wet". For underwater applications there is also a single layer system available, the AB-COR^® 930 UWS.

The initial coatings of steel constructions should not depend only on the costs per m² but rather on quality, efficiency and sustainability because the costs of a repainting are many times higher than the costs of the initial coat (1 : 100). Besides the required quality is possibly not achieved, especially if the work has to be carried out offshore. Our AB-COR^® 950 SW and AB-COR^® 971 meet the requirements of the BSH (Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency), are tested by BAW, NORSOK M-501 and the GL. Consequently it is the most innovative and the most efficient currently available corrosion protection system.