Siemens has been awarded its first commercial offshore wind order from Finland. The company will supply, install and commission 10 wind turbines, each with a capacity of 4 MW and a rotor diameter of 130m, for the Tahkoluoto offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea. Siemens will also be responsible for servicing the wind turbines. Installation of the wind turbines is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2017, with the start of operations expected by autumn 2017.
With a capacity of 40 MW, and an annual net power production of over 155 GW hours, the offshore wind power plant will generate enough power to supply 8600 electrically heated Finnish single-family houses with clean energy. The customer is Suomen Hyötytuuli Oy, a wind power producer owned by eight Finnish utilities, headquartered in Pori.
"This order marks a significant milestone for Siemens. The project is not only the first offshore wind farm in Finland, but will also be used by the Finnish government to demonstrate that offshore wind power is a feasible solution for this area," said Michael Hannibal, CEO offshore of the Siemens wind power and renewables division. "This project is attracting a great deal of attention throughout the entire Baltic region, and will open doors for Siemens in the emerging offshore markets in this region."
Tahkoluoto offshore wind farm is located approx. 0.5-3km from shore in water from 8-15m deep. The wind turbines will be mounted on specially designed, gravity-based steel foundations in order to withstand heavy ice loading. The government of Finland is also contributing US$21.7 million (€20 million) toward the demonstration project in icing conditions.
In 2010, Siemens already supplied one wind turbine with a capacity of 2.3 MW to Suomen Hyötytuuli Oy for the Pori pilot project, located 1.2km off the Finnish coast. This pilot turbine will be surrounded by the 10 wind turbines of the Tahkoluoto wind farm. Siemens has to date installed more than 5.8 GW of offshore wind power capacity worldwide, with 2 GW commissioned in the last fiscal year alone.
Image: Siemens SWT-4.0-130 wind turbine/Siemens
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