Siemens Wind Power has entered into an agreement with Danish utility Dong Energy to supply test turbines for research and development purposes.
The move is part of Dong‘s establishment of a new demonstration program for offshore wind turbines.
Siemens will supply two newly developed 6MW offshore wind turbines, which can be installed at Dong’s demonstration sites in the UK and Denmark.
Dong said that besides generating more power, the new turbines are expected to be easier to maintain, as they are based on gearless, direct drive technology.
Siemens will also supply an updated version of its 3.6MW turbine with a 120m rotor for use at Dong’s Avedore Holme test site.
As part of the demonstration program, several tests will be carried out on the turbines with a view to observations and test results being used in the work connected with the development of Dong’s future offshore wind farms.
The total investment for Dong related to the construction of the three turbines is expected to amount to around $79m.