Siemens to connect London Array to power grid

Siemens Energy has received a €128 million order to connect the London Array offshore wind farm, potentially the largest of its kind in the world, to the power supply grid.

Dong Energy, E.ON and Masdar — the wind farm’s owners — have already tapped Siemens to supply 175 wind turbines for the project being built in the Thames estuary off the Kent and Essex coasts. Set for completion in 2012, the London Array is expected to have a total generating capacity of 630 megawatts and could eventually be expanded to up to 1,000 megawatts, or 1 gigawatt.

That capacity could provide enough electricity for 750,000 British households, or about one-fourth of the population of Greater London.

“Offshore wind farms of this size place particular demands in terms of grid access,” said Udo Niehage, CEO of the Power Transmission Division of Siemens Energy. “We not only have the requisite technology and know-how but also a wealth of experience in connecting offshore wind farms to the grid.”

Siemens will supply the electrical equipment for two offshore substation platforms, which will be installed right at the wind farm. The substations bundle the power generated by the wind turbines before it is transported via high-voltage subsea cable to the coast. Siemens will also prepare the requisite design studies for grid access for all of the wind farm’s electrical components and prepare the grid studies to demonstrate fulfillment of grid access requirements.