Framework agreement: ABO Wind plans up to seven onshore-projects with Siemens Gamesa as preferred supplier

Shortly before the HUSUM Wind 2017 trade show, Siemens Gamesa and wind developer ABO Wind have signed an important framework agreement. Siemens Gamesa has been contracted as a preferred supplier for seven projected onshore wind power plants to be tendered over the next two years. The Wiesbaden-based company is planning to use up to 31 units from the turbine supplier for its planned projects in Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Thuringia and Brandenburg. Geared and direct-drive turbines such as Siemens Gamesa models SWT-DD-142 and G132 are planned to be deployed at the sites. ABO Wind aims to execute these projects by 2020 and is counting on the benefit of a flexible rating within the 3.5 to 4.3 megawatts (MW) range. In addition a variety of tower configurations with hub heights of up to 165 meters will help to achieve optimized energy yields under the specific conditions of inland sites.

ABO Wind AG is one of the leading developers of wind projects in Germany. The medium sized company is planning projects with Siemens Gamesa technology since its large rotor diameters of up to 142 meters allow for extremely high energy yields in low and medium wind conditions. The turbine portfolio, which will be available for ABO Wind’s customers including smaller operators, project offices and community-owned projects, will offer a range of units. It includes geared turbines like the Siemens Gamesa G132 series with 132 meter rotors as well as direct drive units including the SWT-DD-130 with a rotor diameter of 130 meters and the SWT-DD-142 with 142 meter rotor and a generator capacity of up to 3.9 MW. Within the framework different tower configurations can be ordered allowing for hub heights of up to 165 meters.

”For our current projects, Siemens Gamesa offers optimized technology. In a tender wind market with decreasing feed-in tariffs we need optimized efficiency to create economically beneficial wind projects,“ said Dr. Jochen Ahn, member of the board at ABO Wind AG. ”With this agreement we ensure a reliable development path with clear project costs and high turbine availability.”

”We are pleased to support ABO wind in the preparation of a broad project pipeline in Germany,” says Gunnar Liehr, head of German onshore sales at Siemens Gamesa. “Due to ABO wind’s long-term experience in project development and our flexible wind technology, these projects will make an important contribution to the expansion of the onshore wind fleet in Germany.”

Siemens Gamesa’s German installed wind fleet over the past years consists of more than 1,650 onshore wind turbines with a combined rating of more than 2,1 gigawatts (as of the end of June 2017). ABO Wind has installed and commissioned more than 400 wind turbines with a combined rating of 900 MW since 1996. A project pipeline of similar size is currently under development.