• Total order volume: more than EUR 1.5 billion
• Winning combination of technological innovation and tailored financial solution secures largest order for Siemens Energy Service to date
• 600 megawatt Gemini wind power plant will consist of 150 Siemens wind turbines
• Financial Services unit closes on 20 percent equity investment, with the total shareholders’ investment almost EUR 500 million
• Clean energy will be supplied to one and a half million people
The Gemini consortium has signed all construction, operations and financing contracts yesterday with a total construction budget of nearly EUR 3 billion. With more than 20 parties involved 70 percent of this budget will be provided on the basis of project financing – making Gemini the largest-ever project financed offshore wind farm. For the Gemini project Siemens will deliver 150 wind turbines with a capacity of 4 megawatts (MW) and a rotor diameter of 130 meters each.
The wind power plant is to be located in the North Sea, 85 km above the coast of Groningen. With an installed capacity of 600 MW in total Gemini will yield 2.6 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity per year. The wind power plant will supply clean energy for one and a half million people after being fully commissioned. The amount of energy is equivalent to a reduction in the emission of CO2 by 1,25 million tons per year.
For Siemens this is the first order for an offshore wind power plant in Dutch waters. The innovative service concept banks on the ongoing presence of a service vessel and the steady ground readiness of a helicopter.
Siemens’ 15-year service and maintenance agreement for the Gemini project is the largest service order ever for Siemens Energy Service. It will introduce a highly advanced logistics concept for offshore sites. For the first time, a helicopter will be available for a project at all times and a specially designed, purpose-built service operation vessel (SOV) will be based at the wind farm. To ensure increased turbine availability, maintenance work can be carried out at almost all times irrespective of the weather conditions or wave height.
“With the project we are entering one of the most important emerging offshore wind markets in Europe,” said Markus Tacke, CEO of the Wind Power Division of Siemens Energy.
Randy Zwirn, CEO of Energy Service for Siemens Energy adds,
“Wind energy is becoming increasingly important to the world’s energy mix. Therefore wind turbines need to operate at optimum levels over their entire service life.” He underlines, “This record achievement for our offshore wind service business underscores confidence in the highly advanced and innovative service logistics concept we created for Gemini, which is a direct result of the significant investments we make in R&D and the years of experience we have as the world’s leading offshore service provider.”
