Siemens Gamesa’s flagship 14 MW turbine to power 1.4 GW Sofia offshore wind power project in the UK

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy has conditionally received an order for 100 units of its new SG 14-222 DD offshore wind turbines for innogy’s 1.4 GW Sofia Offshore Wind Farm in the UK. A comprehensive service and maintenance contract is also included in the conditional 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.

A total of 100 SG 14-222 DD offshore wind turbines, launched on May 19, 2020, are planned to be installed commencing 2024 at this project, located 195 km 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 and feature a rotor diameter of 222 meters using 108-meter long Siemens Gamesa IntegralBlades.

At 1.4 GW, Sofia is the largest project in innogy’s current development portfolio. The 593 km² 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.

“We’re delighted that innogy has shown its confidence in our new machines and proven its commitment to creating a clean future with us now. In uncertain times, we are proud that innogy is choosing machinery with a pedigree of being solid and reliable. As an economic recovery around the globe safely and slowly begins, we’re confident that offshore wind power will strongly contribute to providing jobs and energy stability at attractive prices,” stated Andreas Nauen, Siemens Gamesa CEO.

Sven Utermöhlen, Senior Vice President Renewables Operations Offshore at innogy SE said: “The selection of these state-of-the-art offshore wind turbines for Sofia, our largest offshore wind development project, reflects our ambition to strive for continuous innovation. 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. 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.”

The Sofia project continues an offshore wind partnership with innogy SE that began with Greater Gabbard, fully commissioned in 2013. Recently, Siemens Gamesa announced the firm order from innogy SE to supply the turbines for the 342 MW Kaskasi offshore wind power plant, located 35 kilometers north of the island of Helgoland in the German North Sea.

The order comes directly after the UK saw a record-breaking period of more than 60 days’ coal-free energy provided to the National Grid. This development will build upon the progress made by renewable energy in 2019, where the UK saw record levels of energy consumption provided by renewables and saw record-low prices for clean energy, dipping to just £39.50 per MW/h.

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 minimizing associated costs and risks. As long as three Space Shuttles placed end-to-end, each 108-meter long IntegralBlade is cast in one piece using patented Siemens Gamesa blade technologies. The turbine’s massive 39,000 m² 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% 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.