As part of the deal, Siemens will supply two of its 6 MW wind turbine prototypes, plus an updated model of its 3.6 MW turbine with a 120-metre rotor for use at DONG Energy's Avedøre Holme test site.
”DONG Energy's leading market position in offshore wind power is based on the company's long-standing unique skills in the development, construction and operation of offshore wind farms,” said Dong Energy CEO Anders Eldrup.
“Demonstration activities play an important role in the retention and development of these skills. For Dong Energy, the implementation of new, more efficient, technologies and optimised concepts and processes is an important element in reducing the costs of offshore wind,” he said.
Neither company has said when – or where – the two new prototype turbines will be installed, but published reports suggest the most likely location for one of the tests is the 172 MW Gunfleet Sands wind farm off the Essex coast, where Dong Energy already has a license for turbine testing.
Dong Energy has said it is consider one of three possible sites in Denmark, although a decision is not expected until next year.
Total construction costs for the installation of the turbines is expected to be about €60.3 million ($79.3 million).
The signing of the agreement follows by just over two months, Siemens’ announced it will begin manufacturing 6 Mw turbines at a new factory in the UK beginning in 2014.
The new turbine is designed specifically for offshore conditions and will use direct drive technology, an increasingly popular design that contains no gearbox and as such is expected to cut the cost of maintenance for difficult to access offshore turbines.
The turbine is expected to provide almost double the energy of those currently installed offshore wind farms, and are harbingers of a trend toward developing wind farm hardware that provides more power at a lower cost than can be achieved today.
The deal comes a year after Siemens signed a deal to supply Dong Energy with at least 500 wind turbines, an agreement that is still believed to be the world’s biggest offshore wind deal.
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