14 DAY TRIAL // Siemens knows bigger is always better, when it comes to wind turbines. The company has launched what it likes to call a “different breed of wind turbines, Turbina Sapiens,” aiming to provide more clean wind energy to several eco-conscious European nations.
The main goal of the company is to install 50 giant innovative turbines off the shores of Germany, Denmark, the UK and the Nederlands by 2014, Cleantechnica reports.
Siemens 6.0 MV are lean, robust and reliable. They come as a larger version of its predecessors and depend on a magnet-driven generator. If on-shore wind farms aren't as efficient as they could be because wind is rather unpredictable in those areas, turbines placed off-shore have much more potential.
While thinking about ways of exploiting the strong wind offshore, Siemens developers have come up with an innovative solution: giant wind turbines made of less parts. They occupy less space and are easier to maintain and fix.
In order to be able to reduce the number of components, the company applies the benefits provided by a direct drive generator.
“Based on Siemens Direct Drive technology, the 6.0 MW turbine has 50% fewer moving parts than comparable geared machines and a towerhead mass of less than 350 tons,” explain the developers.
The new turbines showcase an amazing combination between low-weight materials and robustness, significantly reducing service costs.
Moreover, a Siemens direct drive wind turbine has 50% fewer parts than any other valid competitor. This particularity is extremely important in offshore applications due to the fact that is triggers lower maintenance requirements.
The list of improvements meant to increase the popularity of wind turbines doesn't end here. Most of the offshore wind turbines shut down when wind speed reaches dangerous rates, exceeds 25 m/s for more than 10 minutes. This action has a negative impact on the overall grid system.
Therefore, Siemens' new turbines solve this problem though their High Wind Ride Through system, replacing the unproductive shutdown with a smart “load-based reduction in output power” whenever high wind speeds try to disrupt the balance of offshore turbines.
“Today, the increasing energy demand and the need for clean power generation leads everyone's mind to the concept of renewable energy sources. With highly efficient, solid and reliable wind turbine Siemens Wind Power offers a solution to meet energy needs and environmental awareness,” state Siemens officials.
All in all, Siemens has exploited its 20 years of experience in this line of business, showcasing a series of giant wind turbines meant to explore the unlimited potential of renewables in developed countries all across Europe, within the next two years.