FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German utility RWE AG plans to build its first offshore wind farm, a 2.8 billion euro ($4.03 billion) project, one that adds it to the ranks of would-be operators off Germany’s North Sea coast.

RWE’s renewable energy arm, RWE Innogy, said in a statement on Friday it had acquired project company Enova Energieanlagen with a view to installing about 1,000 megawatts (MW) of wind power generation capacity 40 km north of the island of Juist.

The initial preparation work could start in 2010, provided approval was obtained in 2009, and first production could begin from 2011, it said. The plan would be completed in 2015.

Chief Executive Juergen Grossmann called it “the single largest renewable energy project that RWE has embarked on so far.

“Especially in the finance crisis, RWE Innogy consciously aims at high-speed investment.”

European utilities are expanding into renewables to complement thermal power capacities, which rely partly on imported fuels and contribute to carbon dioxide emissions, for which polluters must pay under EU climate protection targets.

Another incentive for renewables is subsidizing schemes under German legislation. However, financing for new projects has dried up in the finance crisis.

Germany’s world-leading wind industry so far has only operated onshore but has to look offshore as the potential for new onshore sites is limited.

Higher wind speeds out at sea and bigger turbines promise higher production, although getting permission for offshore wind parks is beset by red tape, a lack of long-term experience with the equipment’s performance, and environmental concerns.

Coal-biased RWE, Europe’s largest emitter of CO2, started the new pan-European Innogy unit only in February, while some competitors are further down the road in the renewables sector.

RWE Innogy separately is pursuing offshore projects in several other European countries.