Siemens turbines bound for German offshore wind farm

Siemens Energy will help equip yet another offshore wind power plant in Germany, with an order of 80 3.6-megawatt (MW) turbines bound for the project Meerwind Süd and Meerwind Ost.

The developer/operator of the wind farm is WindMW GmbH (WindMW), whose shareholders are funds managed by Blackstone and Windland Energieerzeugungs GmbH. It’s the first time that a private equity company has invested in an offshore wind power plant by Siemens.

With a total capacity of 288 MW, the wind power plant — set to begin operating in 2013 — will supply enough clean energy to meet the needs of around 400,000 households. It’s Siemens’ sixth order for an offshore wind power plant in German waters.

By 2030, wind farms with a total capacity of 20,000 to 25,000 MW are expected to be operating off Germany’s coastline.

According to the latest World Market Update by BTM Consult, Siemens is the world’s largest supplier to the offshore wind-energy market. At the end of 2010, there were almost 700 Siemens wind turbines with a capacity of over 1,900 MW in operation around the world. The company has also confirmed orders for about 4 Gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power plants, several of which are already under construction.