Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) has been awarded the firm order from RWE for the 1.4 GW Sofia offshore wind power project. Sofia is located 195 km off the U.K.’s northeastern coast on Dogger Bank in the North Sea. The project will be the first to install the company’s 14 MW Direct Drive offshore wind turbine.
At 593 square kilometers, the project will utilize the technology of the SG 14-222 DD offshore wind turbine commercially for the first time anywhere in the world. The development brings other milestones: the 100 turbines will be installed furthest from the shore of any project yet undertaken by the company and will feature the world’s largest single-cast turbine blade at 108 m long.
“The U.K. is the world’s largest offshore wind market, so it is appropriate that it should be the first to install the world’s largest turbine in production – the SG 14-222 DD,” says Mark Becker, CEO of Siemens Gamesa’s Offshore Business Unit. “We are proud to be partnering with RWE. A wind power project of this scale is possible due to the cutting-edge use of technology in the turbines, in their manufacturing and in installation. Rapid innovation of proven technology has made this leap in generating capacity possible and with it a leap forward toward the goals of decarbonizing energy and achieving net-zero.”
The B108 blades being used at Sofia are more than six times longer than the first offshore wind turbine blades ever installed, namely the 16-meter long blades used at Vindeby in Denmark in 1991. Offshore construction works for the Sofia project will start in 2023 with turbine installation set to commence in 2025.
The B108 blades take advantage of the IntegralBlade technology, as well as the Siemens Gamesa PowerEdge solution and lightning protection system. Recently produced, the first three B108 blades will be installed on the SG 14-222 DD prototype in Østerild, Denmark, later this year.
Photo: SGRE’s 14 MW Direct Drive offshore wind turbine
