Siemens to supply wind turbines for Sandbank offshore wind farm

Siemens Energy has been awarded a contract by Vattenfall for the supply of 72 Model SWT-4.0-130 wind turbines for the new Sandbank offshore wind farm in the German North Sea.

As part of the contract, Siemens will also provide maintenance services on the Sandbank installations for an initial period of five years.

The project is being erected 90km west of the island of Sylt in water depths between 25m and 37m within the exclusive economic zone off the German North Sea coast.

The Siemens’ Model SWT-4.0-130 wind turbines, rated at 4MW each, feature 63m-long aeroelastic blades, designed to be flexible under high wind loads and contribute significantly to increasing efficiency while lowering costs.

Scheduled to be commissioned at the end of 2016, the Sandbank is considered to be among the most modern offshore wind farms anywhere in the world.

Construction is of the wind farm is expected to commence in summer 2015.

Siemens Energy Wind Power Division CEO Markus Tacke said: "Thanks to Vattenfall’s expertise in project construction and operation and Siemens’ innovative technology and service prowess, Sandbank will boldly demonstrate just how far we’ve come in reducing the costs of offshore wind power."

Vattenfall Continental/UK region Renewables Business Unit head Gunnar Groebler said: "The Sandbank project is further testament to Vattenfall’s strategy of consistently focusing our growth efforts on the expansion of renewable energy.

"We know how to work offshore and we see it as a significant building block in the success of the energy transition (Energiewende) in Germany. We are therefore delighted to have Siemens as an experienced partner for the building of the wind turbines on board again."

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Image: Siemens’ SWT-4.0-130 wind turbine. Photo: © Siemens AG.