Siemens’ New 6MW Wind Turbines Enter German Offshore Market

Siemens will supply 97 wind turbines, each with a rating of six megawatts (MW) and a rotor diameter of 154 meters, to the Danish energy provider DONG Energy. This will mark the first time that Siemens will be supplying its new six-megawatt wind turbines for offshore in Germany.

The Gode Wind 1 (252 MW) and Gode Wind 2 (330 MW) wind power plants will be erected off the North Sea island of Juist, around 45 kilometers from the German coast in water depth of up to 34 meters. Siemens will also service the wind turbines for a period of five years. Construction is planned to begin in the first half of 2015, with commissioning scheduled for the second half of 2016.

Siemens has to date installed wind turbines for two offshore wind power plants in Germany, with six further projects in the order books. Siemens is also supplying wind turbines to DONG Energy for the German project Borkum Riffgrund 1.

“Offshore wind energy is a vital contributing factor to the success of the energy transition in Germany,” stated Markus Tacke, CEO of the Wind Power Division of the Siemens Energy Sector. “Only at sea can wind projects of a performance category equivalent to major power plants be erected in Germany. Offshore wind energy will also act as a stabilization factor in the German energy mix. Offshore wind power plants produce electricity on more than 340 days per year, thanks to stable wind conditions at sea.”

Siemens is at the front of the market for offshore wind power plants, for grid connection and for offshore wind service. To date, the company has installed wind turbines with a total capacity of 3.9 gigawatts (GW) at sea worldwide. Siemens currently has orders for offshore projects with a capacity of around five gigawatts in the books.

“Despite the fact that offshore wind energy is quite a new technology, we are making great advances. In the coming ten years we intend to reduce costs by up to 40 percent,” declared Mr. Tacke. “To accomplish this, it is essential that we have clearly defined and reliable framework conditions for the expansion of offshore wind power in Germany. ” 

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Press release, November 21, 2013; Image: Siemens