A new 3.15MW low wind turbine from Siemens, SWT-3.15-142 has been installed at the Drantum wind test site in Denmark.
With the installation, the turbine has entered into the prototype testing stage.
The direct-drive IEC Class IIIA wind turbine is the German manufacturer’s first model to feature rotor blades engineered on hybrid-carbon technology.
Siemens claims that the low wind turbine having tower configurations of up to 165m and 69m-rotor blades has set new benchmark in energy production.
A part of the onshore direct drive product platform, SWT-3.15-142 uses the same nacelle as other low wind turbine models such as SWT-3.6-130 including key components like the generator, hub, and electrical and cooling systems.
Siemens Wind Power technology head Morten Pilgaard said: "In our extended onshore product portfolio, the SWT-3.15-142 plays an important role since it is our first IEC Class IIIA wind turbine for this platform.
"With LM's hybrid-carbon blades and our successful direct drive technology this model incorporates proven and highly efficient technology in all components and we are confident that we can maintain short time to market and have this product ready for serial production by the end of 2017."
SWT-3.15-142 is claimed by Siemens to generate 10GWh annually even when the average wind speed is only 6m/s.
Further, the lightweight 142m-rotor along with the specified settings of the Siemens Integrated Control System (SICS) are said to help the new low wind turbine achieve an extraordinary efficiency.
The turbine installed last week will be fully operational by March end to mark the completion of the commissioning work at the Drantum test site.
Last month, Siemens won a contract to provide 13 direct-drive onshore wind turbines for two projects in Northern Germany.
Image: With its 69 meter blades the SWT-3.15-142 has a rotor diameter of 142 meters. Photo: courtesy of Siemens AG.