Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy has conditionally received an order for 100 units of its new SG 14-222 DD offshore wind turbines. The 14-megawatt turbines are meant for Innogy’s 1.4-gigawatt Sofia Offshore Wind Farm in the UK.
A comprehensive service and maintenance contract is also included in the order. The project will have the capacity to generate enough electricity to power to more than 1.2 million British households when completed. The final investment decision is expected to be made in the first quarter of 2021.
195 kilometers from shore
A total of 100 SG 14-222 DD offshore wind turbines are planned to be installed commencing 2024 at this project, located 195 kilometres off the north east coast of the UK, on the shallow area of the central North Sea known as Dogger Bank. Each turbine will have a capacity of 14 megawatts (MW) and feature a rotor diameter of 222 metres using 108-metre long Siemens Gamesa IntegralBlades.
At 1.4 GW, Sofia is the largest project in Innogy’s current development portfolio. The 593-square-kilometre offshore wind park will be roughly the same size as the Isle of Man. Its sheer scale and size offer significant economic opportunities for the UK with potential supply chain benefits, infrastructure and associated jobs and contracts.
‘Siemens Gamesa’s towering 14 MW machine is a perfect match for our flagship Sofia project, together cementing offshore wind‘s central role in the world’s clean energy future,’ says Sven Utermöhlen, Senior Vice President Renewables Operations Offshore at innogy SE. ‘This turbine embodies the impressive technology we need to build our ground-breaking project, that is further from shore and more technically challenging than any of its predecessors.’
SG 14-222
The SG 14-222 incorporates the proven technology of the Siemens Gamesa Direct Drive offshore wind turbine platform. The reliable technology found in this global product offers stable operation and high availability while minimising associated costs and risks. Each 108-metre long IntegralBlade is cast in one piece using patented Siemens Gamesa blade technologies. The turbine’s 39,000-square-metre swept area is equivalent to approximately 5.5 standard football pitches. It allows the SG 14-222 DD to increase Annual Energy Production by more than 25 per cent compared to the SG 11.0-200 DD offshore wind turbine.
This project takes the total conditional order backlog for the new SG 14-222 DD platform to 4.3 GW, following additional conditional orders recently announced in Taiwan and the U.S.
Picture by Siemens Gamesa.