Siemens Gamesa finalizes two million-dollar contracts for the construction of two offshore wind farms in Japan, valued at more than 2.6 billion euros, with its 15 MW megaturbine. The European wind turbine manufacturer has become the preferred supplier of the winning consortia in the third auction held in Tokyo.
From now on, the European company will have to close the final contracts to supply a total of 71 turbines of the SG 14-236 DD model, which are garnering a high number of requests in the market.
According to the data provided by the company itself, the company already has orders for more than 17 GW, which would mean a valuation of around 42.5 billion. Specifically, it is about 9 GW for the East Anglia 2 and Hornsea 3 parks with the SG14-236 DD model. And regarding the other existing model, the SG 14-222 DD, the orders would be 7.5 GW – Moray West, United Kingdom (882 MW) – and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (2,640 MW), the largest order until the moment with this model.
Like the Crystal Tower
The 15 MW turbines have a height of 236 meters, practically the height of the Crystal Tower in Madrid, with 108 meter blades (the size of Big Ben) that allow a sweep surface that reaches 39,000 square meters and a nacelle weighing up to 500 tons.
The choice for both parks of these Siemens Gamesa giants represents support for a turbine that was certified by TUV this past summer.
The SG 14-236 DD machine increases the electrical production of the previous model by 30%, so that it generates enough energy to cover the annual needs of 18,000 European homes.
An offshore park made up of 30 wind turbines, according to the company, would serve to cover the annual electricity consumption of a city with a population similar to that of Bilbao and during its 25-year useful life it would avoid the emission of 1.4 million tons. of CO2 to the atmosphere.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) announced at the end of December the result of the selection of operators of offshore wind farms off the coast of Yusa, in Yamagata Prefecture. The Ministry of Territory, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism selected “Tsugaru Offshore Energy Joint Venture” and “Yamagata Yusa Offshore Wind Power Joint Venture” to install two parks in the Sea of Japan off Aomori Prefecture (southern side) and Yusa City off the coast of Yamagata Prefecture, respectively.
The first winning consortium is formed by the companies JERA Corporation, Green Power Investment Corporation and Tohoku Electric Power Company.
This offshore wind farm will have a power of 615 MW, which will mean hosting a total of 41 turbines.
The second winning consortium has as partners Marubeni Corporation, The Kansai Electric Power Company, BP Iota Holdings Limited, Tokyo Gas and Marutaka Corporation. The power of this installation will be 450 MW, which will involve the start-up of 30 units, manufactured by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy.
The expected date of entry into operation of both facilities will be in June 2030. These advances in Siemens Energy’s wind business occur in the midst of the process of divestment from its parent company.
Siemens AG plans to sell a €2.5 billion stake in Siemens Energy in the coming months to finance its $10 billion acquisition of Altair Engineering.
Siemens is trying to offload a roughly 6% stake before next September, CFO Ralf Thomas told Bloomberg. The engineering conglomerate currently owns 17% of the turbine manufacturer that it spun off in 2020. Siemens Energy expects losses of around €1.3 billion for its wind subsidiary, Siemens Gamesa, for this fiscal year 2025, although it remains committed to reaching the “break-even” in 2026. This would mean cutting by almost 500 million euros the red numbers recorded in September 2023 to September 2024. The CEO of Siemens Energy, Christian Bruch, assured that the company at this moment “is fully involved” in the adjustment plan that it announced for its wind subsidiary and stressed that this year “there will still be a very important loss.”
Tokyo is already preparing the fourth auction for this year
White & Case, one of the leading law firms for the offshore wind business in the world, explains that it is likely that the auctions of the fourth call for offshore wind energy in Japan will be held in 2025 following a calendar similar to that proposed in the Third Call, that is, with the presentation of offers in July and the publication of the results in December. However, it is still unclear which zones will be chosen and what rule changes will apply.
Among the current “Promising Zones”, potentially candidates for Round 4 auctions, are five areas in Hokkaido, such as Matsumae (250MW). The Japanese government continues to debate possible changes to the Round 4 rules, which could include granting points for first contracts, price indexing and deposit money. The firm recommends intense monitoring of those interested in this new round.
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