Siemens will supply 130 3.6 MW offshore wind turbines for the 468 MW Cape Wind offshore project, located off the coast of Nantucket Island.
Per the agreement, Siemens will fabricate, install and commission its 3.6 MW offshore wind turbines for Cape Wind.
Siemens is also providing Cape Wind with a long-term maintenance program for the wind turbines and Electric Service Platform (ESP) for the first 15 years of commercial operation. Siemens will hire locally to fill the majority of its operations and maintenance positions at Cape Wind's future service headquarters on Falmouth Harbor on Cape Cod.
Siemens notes that it will subcontract the manufacturing of the ESP to Cianbro to be fabricated in its facility in Brewer, Maine. The ESP was designed for Cianbro by Moffatt and Nichol Engineers of Norfolk, Va. The ESP will be located toward the center of the offshore wind farm site, and it will transform the voltage of the electricity produced by the wind turbines.
According to Siemens, its 3.6 MW offshore wind turbine has a global track record for performance and reliability. It has been the leading turbine used at existing offshore wind farms, and it is going to be used in at least eight other offshore wind farms currently under construction or approaching construction.
Cape Wind has sold 77.5 % of its power output in long-term power purchase agreements to National Grid and NSTAR, the two largest electric utilities in Massachusetts. Company officials expect the offshore wind project will be commercially operational in 2016.
