Siemens has won a major contract to supply wind turbines and services to Cape Wind.
Under this contract, Siemens will supply 3.6-megawatt (MW) offshore wind turbines and an offshore Electric Service Platform (ESP). The contract will also include a service agreement for the first 15 years of commercial operations.
Siemens will fabricate, install and commission its 3.6-MW offshore wind turbines for Cape Wind. The Siemens 3.6-MW offshore turbine has been the leading turbine used at existing offshore wind farms and it is going to be used in at least eight other offshore wind farms currently under construction or approaching construction.
Siemens is also providing Cape Wind with a long-term maintenance program for the wind turbines and ESP for a period of 15 years. Siemens will hire locally to fill the majority of its operations and maintenance positions at Cape Wind’s future service headquarters on Falmouth Harbor on Cape Cod.
Siemens Energy has a strong presence in the U.S. with approximately 60,000 employees and hundreds of millions of dollars invested in manufacturing, service and office locations. Siemens opened its North American Offshore Wind Office in Boston in 2010 to be closer to its U.S. and Canadian customers, and specifically to work with Cape Wind.
Siemens is subcontracting the manufacturing of the ESP to Cianbro to be fabricated in its facility in Brewer, Maine. The ESP was designed for Cianbro by Moffatt and Nichol Engineers of Norfolk, Virginia. The ESP will be located toward the center of the offshore wind farm site and it will transform the voltage of the electricity produced by the wind turbines.
Siemens recently received 1,050-megawatt (MW) wind turbine order from MidAmerican Energy Company.
This is the largest onshore wind turbine order in the world. The project will generate 800 permanent jobs in the region, the company said.