Siemens wins Scottish windfarm contract

Siemens will supply 68 turbines, each with a capacity of 2.3 MW, to the windfarm, which is approximately 19 miles northwest of Perth in the Scottish Highlands. Seven of the turbines will have 93-metre rotors, and the remaining 61 turbines will have 101-metre rotors. According to Siemens, this is the first time that the large-scale SWT-2.3-101wind turbines will be deployed in the United Kingdom. The project should be operational by 2012.

Siemens will also provide services for turbine operation and maintenance for an initial period of five years. Pre-construction work is already under way for the Griffin windfarm, and full construction will begin later this year. SSE has more than 2,000 MW of renewable energy and has a stated goal of doubling this to 4,000 MW in the UK and Ireland by the end of 2013.

"The Griffin wind power plant will yield significant benefits for Scotland in terms of jobs and local value creation," commented Jens-Peter Saul, CEO of the Siemens Wind Power business unit. "This follow-up order from SSE Renewables demonstrates the confidence that our customers have in our products and services. At the same time, it helps us strengthen our leading position in the UK market for wind power."

In October last year, SSE signed a deal worth an estimated 350 million euros US $449 million with Siemens Energy for the supply of wind turbines to the 350-MW Clyde windfarm in South Lanarkshire, 70 kilometres south of Glasgow. Scheduled to be commissioned in 2012, the Clyde windfarm will be one of Europe's largest onshore windfarms.

In related news, Siemens Energy and Italian cable developer, manufacturer and supplier Prysmian SpA have been awarded a contract worth approximately 500 million euros US $641 million to connect the HelWin1 windfarm in the North Sea to the German grid. Located about 85 kilometres to the northwest of the island of Helgoland, HelWin1 will have a transmission capacity of up to 576 MW. The contract was awarded by German power transmission operator transpower, a subsidiary of Dutch company TenneT.

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