Siemens Unveils 14+ MW Offshore Giant

Big, bigger, Siemens Gamesa - their new offshore wind turbine has enormous dimensions: a rotor diameter of 222 meters fitted with 108-meter blades, covering a swept area of 39,000 square meters. With this powerful wind turbine, Siemens Gamesa is taking a leading position in the upheaval currently underway in the industry.

“We’ve gone bigger for the better,” states Markus Tacke, CEO of Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, who continues: “Safely and sustainably providing clean energy for our customers and society-at-large is at the core of all we do. The new SG 14-222 DD is a global product which allows all of us take giant steps towards protecting and preserving our planet. We ourselves became carbon neutral in late 2019 and are on track towards meeting our long-term ambition of net-zero CO₂ emissions by 2050. Our installed fleet of over 100 GW both offshore and onshore abates more than 260 million tons of CO₂ emissions annually.”

With a capacity of over 14 MW, an SG 14-222 DD turbine can deliver enough energy to supply electricity to around 18,000 average European households. Thus 30 SG 14-222 DD turbines could cover the annual electricity consumption of a town like Hanover. The turbine is designed for a service life of 25 years.

Newly developed Siemens Gamesa B108 blades with a diameter of 222 meters will be used for the rotor. At 108 meters, each 'IntegralBlade' is thus about as long as three space shuttles lined up side by side (see photo left, copyright: Pixabay) and is cast in one piece using Siemens Gamesa's patented blade technologies. The turbine's swept area of 39,000 m2 is equivalent to about 5.5 standard soccer fields. As a result, the SG 14-222 can achieve an increase in annual energy production of more than 25 percent compared to the SG 11.0-200 DD, the largest Siemens Gamesa offshore wind turbine to date.

The nacelle is to have a comparatively low weight of 'only' 500 tons. This will enable Siemens Gamesa to use an optimized tower and foundation substructure compared to a heavier nacelle. This leads to lower costs per turbine due to reduced material and transport requirements.