Statoil awards two contracts to Siemens for Dudgeon offshore wind farm in UK

Statoil has awarded two contracts totaling £516m to Siemens for the Dudgeon offshore wind farm project in the UK.

As part of the deal, Siemens will involve in the engineering, supply, assembly, commissioning and service of 67 wind turbine generators for the wind farm project.

Each 6MW turbine includes a tower section, nacelle and three separate rotor blades with 154m rotor diametre.

The engineering work is expected to commence in January 2014, while the first batch of turbines will be ready for load out and installation by January 2017.

As part of the service contract, Siemens will cover operations and maintenance of the wind turbine generators (WTGs) through the first two years after installation is completed, followed by three years, where the company provides Dudgeon with technicians and other agreed services.

The wind farm will provide renewable energy to around 400,000 households in the UK market, once in operation.

Statoil renewable energy senior vice president Siri Espedal Kindem said the new turbine contract will secure planned progress in the Dudgeon project towards full operation during 2017.

"Technology development is fundamental to optimising offshore wind industry costs and solutions, and the use of new large turbines such as these is a main contributor to reducing offshore wind costs," Kindem added.

Statoil offshore wind project vice president Halfdan Brustad said, "This WTG contract is important for further developing the Dudgeon project towards concept selection and a final investment decision in 2014."

Image: The Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm. Photo: Courtesy of Alan O’Neill.