Siemens to supply offshore wind turbines to world's largest floating wind farm

For the 30-MW Hywind Scotland Project, Siemens will supply five of its SWT-6.0-154 direct drive offshore wind turbines. The turbines will be installed on floating foundations operating in water depths between 90m and 120m. The world's largest floating wind project is located in Scottish waters 25km off the coast of Peterhead in Aberdeenshire. For the new Hywind Scotland Project, assembly in West Coast Norway is scheduled for first half 2017. The Hywind Scotland project is expected to be commissioned in late 2017 and deliver 135 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electric power per year. The Scottish pilot project demonstrates how future floating concepts for commercial and large scale offshore wind parks can be both cost efficient and low risk, Siemens said. The floating foundations are ballast-stabilised and fastened to the seabed with mooring lines. With their lightweight nacelles, Siemens large direct drive wind turbines are particularly suited for the floating foundations designed as slender cylinder structures.
This concept has already proven its effectiveness in a 2009 project, when Statoil and Siemens had installed a 2.3-MW Siemens turbine at the first floating full-scale wind project worldwide, Hywind Demo.
"We are proud to once again be on board the floating wind project with Statoil, and to apply the experience we gained with the first full scale floating turbine," said Morten Rasmussen, head of technology at Siemens Wind Power and Renewables Division. "Hywind Scotland is another pioneering project and has the potential to become a trailblazer for future floating wind projects."