Wind turbine giant Siemens has announced it has won a EUR 2.2 billion contract to build two wind power plants in the German North Sea.
Siemens will supply 97 six-megawatt (MW) turbines, each with rotors 154-metres in length, for the 582-megawatt Gode Wind offshore project, which will ultimately supply renewable energy to 600,000 German households. The company will also service and repair the project for five years.
The contract was awarded by Danish energy supplier DONG Energy. The project will consist of two offshore wind farms – Gode Wind 1 (330MW) and 2 (252MW), located around 45 kilometres off the German coast.
DONG Energy says it has secured “unconditional grid connection confirmation” from European electricity supplier TenneT, owner of the massive HelWin1 HVDC Converter Station, also installed by Siemens in the North Sea.
It is the first time Siemens has deployed their 6MW turbine for an offshore wind farm in Germany. According to Markus Tacke, CEO of the Wind Power Division of the Siemens Energy Sector, offshore wind farming is only way for wind energy to rival conventional forms of power in Germany.
“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,” he said.
DONG Energy says the 582MW Gode Wind farm project will mark the completion of 3.5-gigawatts of offshore projects, taking the company to the forefront of the North Sea sector. A power purchase arrangement from the German government that helped secure Gode Wind 1 and 2 is due to expire in 2017, but the company has a target to build a total of 6.5 GW by 2020.
“We remain hopeful that the new German government will soon announce a viable support framework for the period post-2017. For an industry with project lifecycles of 30 years it is critically important to obtain visibility beyond 2017 in order to continue to innovate and mature the technology, bring down production costs, and make a substantial contribution to the German Energiewende” (Energy Transition).
