German multinational Siemens has received its largest order for its 7MW turbine to date.
The company is to supply, install and commission 102, 7MW wind turbines, each with a rotor diameter of 154m, for the East Anglia ONE project, led by ScottishPower Renewables, a subsidiary of Spain's Iberdrola.
The 714MW wind power plant will be the largest project in terms of capacity for Siemens so far. Once operational in 2020, the electricity generated by the project is expected to be sufficient for around 500,000 homes. Siemens will additionally be responsible for servicing the wind farm for an initial period of five years.
Michael Hannibal, CEO Offshore of the Siemens Wind Power and Renewables Division. "This represents the largest single order ever for our direct-drive, 7MW wind turbine. The decision to go with our innovative wind turbines underscores the contribution made by these units to reducing the costs of offshore wind power."
The East Anglia ONE offshore wind power plant is to be installed about 45km off the British east coast over an area of 300sq km. The 102 Siemens direct-drive wind turbines of type SWT-7.0-154 will be installed on jacket foundations. The nacelles shall be manufactured in Cuxhaven, Germany. Siemens plans to produce the corresponding wind turbine blades for East Anglia ONE at its Hull facility. The port of Great Yarmouth will serve as pre-assembly harbor for the project. The first wind turbines are scheduled to be installed in the summer of 2019, with the start of commercial operation scheduled for 2020.
Siemens has also been awarded a long-term service agreement which includes remote monitoring and diagnostics services to help ensure the long-term reliability, performance and availability of the wind turbines. The logistics approach will feature the availability of a helicopter that will be based near Lowestoft port and used mainly in winter when the use of crew transfer vessels (CTVs) is not feasible due to high wave conditions and rough seas.
This marks the second offshore wind project between Siemens and ScottishPower Renewables. Siemens previously supplied this partner with wind turbines with a total capacity of 389 MW for the West of Duddon Sands project in the Irish Sea.
Having installed nearly 2100 wind turbines to date, with a total capacity of more than 7GW, Siemens is the leading provider for offshore wind turbines worldwide. The company also has 6.7GW of offshore wind capacity under service contracts and is a leader in offshore grid connections.