Siemens to supply turbines for 30 MW floating offshore wind farm in Scottish waters

Siemens said on Dec. 4 that it will supply five of its 6 MW offshore wind turbines for a floating wind farm that Statoil is developing in Scottish waters about 15 miles off the coast of Peterhead in Aberdeenshire. The turbines will be installed on floating foundations operating in depths between 90 meters and 120 meters. Called the Hywind Scotland Project, the floating offshore wind farm will have a total generating capacity of 30 MW. Assembly of the turbines is scheduled for the first half of 2017.

Siemens said that, in 2009, it worked with Statoil to install a 2.3 MW Siemens turbine at the first floating full-scale wind project worldwide – the Hywind Demo Project. “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 floater,” Morten Rasmussen, head of technology, Siemens Wind Power and Renewables, said in a statement. “Hywind Scotland is another pioneering project and has the potential to become a trailblazer for future wind projects.”

Siemens said that the Hywind Demo Project demonstrated how future floating concepts for commercial and large-scale offshore wind parks can be both cost-efficient and low risk. The floating foundations are ballast-stabilized and fastened to the seabed with mooring lines. According to Siemens, the lightweight nacelles of the large direct drive wind turbines are particularly suited for the floating foundations designed as slender cylinder structures.

The company said that for the floating installation, Siemens’ technicians developed new controller settings for rotor pitch and yaw drive regulation. Statoil on Nov. 25 awarded a contract to Scotland-based Isleburn for the provision of the suction anchors for the Hywind Scotland Project. Suction anchors are installed by sinking into the seabed and then pumping the water out of the pile using a submersible pump. Isleburn said in a statement that it will deliver 15 suction anchors early in 2017.

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2015/12/siemens-to-supply-turbines-for-30-mw-floating-offshore-wind-farm-in-scottish-waters.html