The worldwide race to construct ever-larger offshore wind generators might have one other entrant, as Siemens Gamesa has reportedly informed clients the corporate plans to provide a 21-MW mannequin within the subsequent few years.
The Bloomberg information service on June 10, citing nameless sources, mentioned Siemens is concerned in researching what can be the world’s largest offshore wind turbine by energy score, surpassing an 18-MW mannequin put in in early June by China’s Dongfang at a check base in South China’s Guangdong province, and the same 18-MW mannequin developed by China’s Mingyang. China State Shipbuilding Corp. in January of final yr additionally introduced improvement of an 18-MW unit.
Common Electrical final yr mentioned it’s creating a 17- to 18-MW mannequin that might launch inside the subsequent few years.
Funding for Testing
Stories earlier this yr mentioned Siemens Gamesa had acquired €30 million ($32.2 million) in funding from the European Union for testing what media described as “the world’s strongest wind turbine prototype” on the Nationwide Take a look at Centre for Massive Wind Generators at Osterild, Denmark. Siemens Gamesa reportedly informed reNEWS that the Osterild web site is a check facility partly funded by the European Fee. The information service reported that Siemens Gamesa mentioned the corporate “will solely resolve whether or not we’ll in the end set up a brand new product in a industrial mission after cautious testing. Nonetheless, we basically imagine within the offshore market and the growth of capacities at sea should be carried out rapidly and constantly to achieve the formidable local weather targets.”
An EU doc associated to the Osterild mission mentioned Siemens Gamesa’s testing would validate new wind turbine applied sciences associated to nominal energy, bearings, electrical system, set up of blades and tower, cooling system, and upkeep technique, amongst different upgrades. Siemens Video games has been testing its prototype SG 14-236 DD offshore wind turbine on the Denmark web site.
Mingyang final yr launched its MySE 18.X-20MW wind turbine at its Shanwei manufacturing base in China. The mannequin unit options versatile energy scores starting from 18.X to twenty MW, in line with the corporate. Mingyang in October 2023 mentioned it is also designing a brand new offshore wind turbine mannequin with a rated capability of twenty-two MW. The corporate mentioned improvement would begin sooner or later in 2024 or 2025.
—Darrell Proctor is a senior affiliate editor for POWER (@POWERmagazine).
