Siemens Energy has received 1,050-megawatt (MW) wind turbine order from MidAmerican Energy Company.
This is the largest onshore wind turbine order in the world, Siemens said. The size and magnitude of the order confirms the growing importance of wind power as part of the balanced energy mix in Iowa and the U.S., Siemens said.
MidAmerican Energy’s order consists of 448 Siemens wind turbines for five project sites which, together, will deliver 1,050 megawatts of additional wind generation in Iowa by the end of 2015. Construction activity is underway at each of the project sites.
“When the new projects are completed in 2015, MidAmerican Energy and Siemens will have provided more than 2.2 gigawatts of clean, wind-generated electricity in Iowa since 2008,” said Bill Fehrman, president and CEO, MidAmerican Energy.
Siemens Energy’s Fort Madison, Iowa, facility will manufacture all the blades, while the nacelles and hubs will be assembled at the Siemens plant in Hutchinson, Kansas.
All projects will utilize Siemens’ 2.3-megawatt, G2 platform wind turbines and will be installed at MidAmerican Energy’s 500-megawatt Highland wind project in O’Brien County; 250-megawatt Lundgren wind project in Webster County; 138.6-megawatt Wellsburg wind project in Grundy County; and 117-megawatt Macksburg wind project located in Madison County.
The order also called for 19 wind turbines at the 44-megawatt Vienna II wind project expansion in Marshall County, which is fully constructed and delivering energy to Iowans. In addition to the wind turbines, the contract also includes a service, maintenance and warranty agreement.
Once complete, the new wind projects will generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of approximately 317,000 average Iowa households.
MidAmerican Energy’s order supports more than 800 employees in Fort Madison, Iowa, and Hutchinson, Kansas. Approximately 1,000 construction jobs will be added to Iowa’s economy during the two-year construction period for the new wind turbines, and approximately 40 new permanent jobs will be added when the expansion is complete.
MidAmerican Energy plans to work with Siemens over the next two years to construct five additional wind farms, which will have a major impact on Iowa’s economy and energy future, Fehrman added.
In 2012, wind energy was, for the first time ever, the No. 1 source of new electricity generation capacity. More wind power capacity was installed in the U.S. than any other form of power generation.
Additionally, a record-setting $25 billion in private investment was added to the U.S. economy in new wind farm construction, making wind the top source of newly installed electric generating capacity, representing 42 percent of all new capacity.
Since 2005, the wind industry has brought more than $105 billion of private investment into the economy, according to the reports.