Siemens Gamesa’s Flagship Turbine for World’s Second-Largest Offshore Wind Farm

March 29, 2023, by Adrijana Buljan

ScottishPower Renewables, the UK arm of the Spanish energy giant Iberdrola, has placed an order with Siemens Gamesa for 95 of the company’s SG 14-236 DD wind turbines for its 1.4 GW East Anglia Three offshore wind farm. The order marks what will be the first deployment of this turbine model in the UK.

The companies have also signed a service contract for an initial period of eight years.

“Siemens Gamesa has been severely impacted by the economic challenges facing renewables supply chains, and this firm order has only been possible due to the parties’ unwavering commitment to support the project”, the wind turbine OEM states in a press release issued on 29 March.

Siemens Gamesa Offshore CEO Marc Becker said: “In these challenging times, it is encouraging to sign this firm order with ScottishPower Renewables as we jointly move to a more financially sustainable wind industry, but we need the UK government to fully recognize that renewable energy, especially wind generation, is now on the same level of importance as oil and gas and requires similar levels of support to ensure it delivers what the UK needs to reach crucial Net Zero targets”.

ScottishPower Renewables selected Siemens Gamesa as the preferred bidder to supply and install 14+ MW wind turbines on three of its East Anglia Hub projects, including East Anglia Three, back in 2021.

The East Anglia Three wind turbines will be installed by Cadeler, which signed a Vessel Reservation Agreement with the developer last year. Cadeler has now also signed a firm contract.

For this project, Cadeler will deploy both one of its O-class vessels featuring a new crane and one of the two newbuild X-class vessels, currently under construction in China.

Wind turbine installation is expected to begin in spring 2026 and to be completed by the end of that year.

Once up and running, the 1.4 GW East Anglia Three will be the second-largest offshore wind farm in the world.

The world’s largest offshore wind farm in operation is the 1.3 GW Hornsea Two in the UK, but the title will soon be taken over by the 1.5 GW Hollandse Kust Zuid, currently being built in the Netherlands.