World’s Most Powerful Wind Turbine Starts Producing

Siemens Gamesa’s SG 14-222 DD prototype offshore wind turbine installed at the test centre in Østerild, Denmark, has produced its first electricity and delivered it to the grid.

The SG 14-222 DD turbine model has a 14 MW capacity, reaching up to 15 MW using the company’s Power Boost function. The model features a 222-metre diameter rotor, 108-metre blades, and a 39,000 m2 swept area.

The model will be commercially available in 2024.

The 14 MW capacity allows one SG 14-222 DD machine to provide enough energy to power approximately 18,000 average European households every year. Approximately 30 SG 14-222 DD offshore wind turbines could furthermore cover the annual electricity consumption of Bilbao, Spain, the company said.

The 222-metre diameter rotor uses the new Siemens Gamesa B108 blades. Each 108-metre IntegralBlade® is cast in one piece using patented Siemens Gamesa blade technologies.

Additionally, the turbine’s 39,000 m2 swept area is equivalent to approximately 5.5 standard football pitches. It allows the SG 14-222 DD to provide an increase of more than 25 per cent in Annual Energy Production compared to the SG 11.0-200 DD offshore wind turbine, Siemens Gamesa said.

Furthermore, the new offshore giant features a low nacelle weight at 500 metric tons. This light weight is said to enable Siemens Gamesa to safely utilize an optimized tower and foundation substructure compared to a heavier nacelle. Benefits thus arise in the form of lower costs per turbine by minimizing sourced materials and reducing transportation needs, the company said.

As reported earlier, Siemens Gamesa is further upgrading this flagship model.

The newly introduced, enhanced SG 14‑236 DD offshore wind turbine, has a 236-metre diameter rotor, a 43,500 m2 swept area, and a capacity of up to 15 MW. The SG 14-236 DD prototype is scheduled to be installed in 2022 and the model will be commercially available in 2024.

Back in March, Siemens Gamesa received the first firm order for the SG 14-222 DD from RWE for the 1.4 GW Sofia wind farm offshore the UK.

Siemens Gamesa has also signed preferred supplier agreements to deliver the new turbine to the 300 MW Hai Long 2 project in Taiwan and the 2.6 GW Dominion Energy Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) commercial project in the US.

NOTE: The original article has been amended.