After approximately one year of testing, Moventas and AREVA Wind, subsidiary of the multi-national energy industry group AREVA, will be ready for series deliveries. Moventas and AREVA Wind have signed an agreement worth €80 million concerning 5-MW gear unit deliveries for the coming years.
“We are very pleased to find that AREVA Wind trusts our leading expertise and over 30-year history in creating technically superior gear solutions for medium-speed and multi-megawatt class drive trains”, comments Senior Vice President of Wind Gears with Moventas, Arto Lahtela.
The new offshore gear will strengthen the Moventas product range, especially for the European markets, where the demand for offshore wind turbines is showing promising signs of growth. Challenging offshore conditions set extremely high requirements for both product design and manufacturing technologies. Moventas provides AREVA Wind’s international offshore wind expansion with a reliable medium speed offshore wind gear.
With a rated power of 5 MW, AREVA’s M5000 wind turbine with its innovative medium-speed concept has now three years operational experience in the German North Sea, and the group is now moving into serial production with its confirmed backlog of 120 machines. Beyond this AREVA is aiming at strong international expansion, with a focus on the European markets, and in particular United Kingdom and France.
Indeed, last month, the French government awarded a contract to a consortium led by Iberdrola and EOLE-RES and including AREVA to develop the Saint-Brieuc (Côtes-d’Armor) offshore wind farm, which will be fitted with 100 of AREVA's 5-MW turbines. The wind farm is scheduled to enter into operation between 2017 and 2019, and will generate enough electricity to power a town of around 650,000 inhabitants.
In order to fulfil this order and expected future French offshore orders, AREVA will create two plants at Le Havre, one to manufacture turbines and the other for blades. This industrial base is ideally placed to supply the largest offshore wind power market in the world, the Channel and the North Sea. In total, AREVA’s wind power activities will enable the creation of some 2,000 jobs, through an extensive network of partners and suppliers throughout France, mainly concentrated in Brittany. Furthermore, AREVA’s partners have signed agreements with other French industrial players, including STX in Saint-Nazaire, to build the wind turbine foundations.
“We are delighted that the quality of our response to the call for tenders has been recognised by the French government and we are very proud to be part of the most coveted field. Renewables are at the heart of AREVA’s strategy, and our experience will allow us to be actively involved in the development of an industry which will create jobs in France and export heavily,” Luc Oursel, AREVA's CEO, said at the time.
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