Siemens Plans To Reduce Cost Of Wind Power Production

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Siemens Energy are planning to reduce the costs of offshore wind power in the coming years by increasing output, reducing weight, and improving the production and installation processes of wind power installation.

Windkraft auf dem Weg zur Kostensenkung / Wind power on its way to cost reduction
Siemens Wind Power is presenting at Stand 31C40 in Building 3.1 at the Frankfurt trade fair.
Image Credit: Siemens

The direction comes hand-in-hand with their attendance at the EWEA Offshore Trade fair in Frankfurt, Germany, where they are introducing their new range of 4 MW and 6 MW wind turbines, where they will also outline their strategies towards improving their production and installation processes.

“We want to reduce the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for offshore wind power by up to 40 percent before the end of the decade”, declares Siemens Wind Power CTO Henrik Stiesdal. “This means that starting as early as 2020, we will offer our customers technologies that allows offshore wind power to be produced for less than 10 euro cents per kilowatt hour.”

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We won’t have to wait until 2020 to see any changes to Siemens’ production methods, however. The nacelle and rotor of the new SWT-6.0-154 6 MW wind turbine they are promoting at the EWEA fair are already one third lighter than that of comparative systems, thanks in part to the introduction of direct-drive technology, which does away with the need for a gearbox.

The 4 MW offshore models are similarly displaying improvements, including upgraded generators and “aeroelastic” rotot blades, which are designed to be flexible under high wind situations and are produced with up to 20% reduced mass compared to traditional blades.

“Environmental benefits, energy supply stability and positive impacts on domestic job markets are frequently underestimated in the discussion on renewable energy sources”, added Stiesdal, pointing to further aspects of Siemens’ efforts moving forward. “These aspects, which influence the true ‘society’s cost of energy’, should also be incorporated into the ongoing cost debate.”

 


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Joshua S Hill

I'm a Christian, a nerd, a geek, and I believe that we're pretty quickly directing planet-Earth into hell in a handbasket! I also write for Fantasy Book Review (.co.uk), and can be found writing articles for a variety of other sites. Check me out at about.me for more.

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