The prototype of the SWT 4.0-130 installed
and commissioned at the Osterild Test Center in Denmark
Siemens Energy (link) has launched its new range of offshore wind turbine named the SWT
4.0-130 at the EWEA conference in Vienna.
There is seen a heavy activity in the Wind Turbine Market as both GE (GE 2.5-120 - link) and Nordex (Generation Delta - link) have also released their New Wind Turbines. While competitors focused on Onshore Wind, Siemens has put it's bet into the Offshore Wind Space by Releasing it's New Line of 4MW Offshore Wind Turbine Range.
This new wind turbine has a rotor diameter of 130 meters. Also the new
design is a further advancement of the popular SWT 3.6 family, more
units of which have been sold and installed worldwide than any other
offshore wind turbine.
Also the SWT
4.0-130, will feature a B63 rotor blade, measuring 63 meters in length, is the longest and technologically most advanced blade in the 4-megawatt class. B63 rotor blade has a swept area of two football fields.
Since December 2012, the prototype of the SWT 4.0-130 has been installed
and commissioned at the Osterild Test Center in Denmark and is showing
excellent performance. Serial production is expected to commence in
2015. "The advancements designed into the SWT 4.0-130 increase energy
capture by up to 15 percent over our best-selling SWT 3.6-120 type",
says Henrik Stiesdal, Chief Technology Officer at Siemens' Energy
Sector's Wind Power Division.
Bundling The New Formula for Success
Same as what it's competitors are pursuing, Siemens's will also provide it's wind turbine systems bundled
under the umbrella of one of four product platforms. The objective of
this platform strategy is to standardize and modularize the products. Following the model of the automotive industry, all wind turbines are
bundled under the umbrella of a product platform. Each unit consists of
five or six modules which are used within a single platform for various
different turbines.
In the future, each of the wind turbines offered by Siemens will belong
to one of the platforms Siemens G2, Siemens G4, Siemens D3 or Siemens
D6. The name of each platform is dictated by a combination of the
applied drive technology and the performance class of the wind turbines.
Platforms based on geared technology are denoted by the letter "G" (for
"geared drive"), while product platforms featuring gearless technology
are identified by the prefix "D" (for "direct drive"). With its 4-MW
output, the SWT 4.0-130 wind turbine joins the well-known 3.6-MW
turbines in the Siemens G4 platform.
