Siemens Gamesa to Use Salzgitter Steel for Thor Wind Turbine Towers

February 17, 2025, by Adnan Memija

Ilsenburger Grobblech (ILG), a subsidiary of Germany’s Salzgitter, and Siemens Gamesa have signed a contract for the delivery of heavy plates for the construction of wind towers that will be installed at the RWE’s Thor offshore wind farm in Denmark.

Under the contract, the company will deliver around 25,000 tonnes of heavy plates for the construction of 36 Siemens Gamesa’s GreenerTowers, which achieve CO2 equivalent emissions savings of less than 700 kg per tonne of steel, according to Salzgitter.

The heavy plates for the offshore wind turbine towers will be supplied by ILG and Mannesmann Grobblech GmbH (MGB). The units are scheduled to be delivered to the wind tower manufacturers, Wind in Spain and Welcon in Denmark, from March to October 2025.

“We are delighted that ILG and MGB are the first certified suppliers to make a significant contribution to reducing the global CO₂eq footprint by supplying low-emission heavy plate. To this end, we have invested in new equipment to be able to supply such wind projects with 18 – 24 meter long plates. This includes, for example, the investment in the transport line for finishing with an overhead crane and a mobile roller table extension,” said Oliver Laubner, Sales Manager at ILG.

Around 30,000 tonnes of primary material are required to produce the heavy plates, said Salzgitter. Some of these slabs are produced with low CO2eq emissions at Peiner Träger using scrap-based electrical steel and renewable energies.

The remaining slabs are supplied by trading company Salzgitter Mannesmann International from European sources with similar low CO₂eq emissions.

The new GreenerTower has been part of Siemens Gamesa’s product portfolio since 2024 and can be used as an option for all future onshore and offshore wind turbines.

The Thor offshore wind farm will be the first project to feature the GreenerTower units.

Thor Offshore Wind Farm to Feature Siemens Gamesa’s Newly Launched GreenerTowers

Business development

“It is a pleasure to see the first GreenerTowers taking physical shape in the real world – not only as drawings. The energy transition demands end-to-end value chains working together to eliminate CO₂eq emissions. GreenerTowers exemplifies this collaboration,” said Maximilian Schnippering, Head of Sustainability at Siemens Gamesa.

“If all towers installed by the company in one year were replaced with GreenerTowers, it would be equivalent to removing over 466,000 cars from European roads for a year.”

Located 22 kilometres off the west coast of Jutland in the Danish North Sea, the project will comprise 72 wind turbines, with 40 units utilising recyclable rotor blades.