Cape Wind and Siemens enter major offshore wind turbine supply agreement
Siemens and Cape Wind have signed a major contract in which Siemens will supply Cape Wind its industry-leading 3.6-megawatt (MW) offshore wind turbines, an offshore Electric Service Platform (ESP) and a service agreement for the first 15 years of commercial operations, Siemens USA said in a news release.
Siemens, the world’s leading offshore wind turbine manufacturer, will fabricate, install and commission its 3.6-MW offshore wind turbines for Cape Wind. The Siemens 3.6-MW offshore turbine has been the ‘workhorse’ of the global offshore wind industry and has had an unparalleled track record on 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.
Siemens is also providing Cape Wind with a long-term maintenance program for the wind turbines and ESP for a period of 15 years. 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 Energy has a strong presence in the U.S. with approximately 60,000 employees and hundreds of millions of dollars invested in manufacturing, service and office locations. Siemens opened its North American Offshore Wind Office in Boston in 2010 to be closer to its U.S. and Canadian customers, and specifically to work with Cape Wind. Project management for the Cape Wind project will be managed from the Boston office, while the ESP scope of work will be managed from the Company’s Transmission operations in Cary, North Carolina, and the long-term maintenance program will be managed from the company’s Americas headquarters located in Orlando, Florida.
Siemens is subcontracting 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, Virginia. 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.
The Siemens Energy Sector is the world’s leading supplier of a broad spectrum of products, services and solutions for power generation in thermal power plants and using renewables, power transmission in grids and for the extraction, processing and transport of oil and gas. In fiscal 2013 (ended September 30), the Energy Sector had revenues of EUR26.6 billion and received new orders totaling approximately EUR28.8 billion and posted a profit of approximately EUR2 billion. On September 30, 2013, the Energy Sector had a work force of approximately 83,500.
Cape Wind will be America’s first offshore wind farm and will help catalyze a domestic offshore wind industry and related supply chain. Cape Wind has sold 77 ½% of its power output in long term Power Purchase Agreements to National Grid and NSTAR, the two largest electric utilities in Massachusetts. Cape Wind has announced it is purchasing a marina on Falmouth harbor on Cape Cod to serve as its maintenance and operations Headquarters. Cape Wind is the first U.S. offshore wind project to be fully permitted, and to have been issued a commercial lease and received approval for its Construction and Operations Plan by the U.S. Department of Interior. Cape Wind is currently in its financing phase.
