Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) has been landed an order from EDF Renewables North America to supply a batch of 66 turbines for the developer’s 232MW Milligan wind power project in Nebraska,

The deal, which covers delivery of 30 SG4.5-145s and 36 SG2.7-129s, includes a service and maintenance agreement.

It also strengthens SGRE's initial foothold in a 3.5MW-plus turbine market segment that is expected to grow substantially in the coming years. Where local conditions allow, project owners want to utilise larger machines to capture more energy but also reduce construction and operating costs with fewer turbines.

Nebraska is among a growing number of prairie states along with Texas where landowners, local officials and utility regulators are becoming more comfortable with the emerging generation of larger, taller wind turbines.

The latest order is also evidence that SGRE is having early success in prying away, at least with the SG 4.5-145 turbine model, some business from Vestas, which has dominated orders in recent years from European wind project developers here.

“We are glad to be working with [EDF] on a number of projects like Milligan and the recently announced Coyote and Oso Grande wind projects,” said José Antonio Miranda, CEO of SGRE’s US onshore wind business. “This order again evidences our customer’s confidence in our technology.”

Milligan also takes the OEM past the 1GW milestone for sales of its SG4.5-145. Project completion is slated for the end of next year.

Art Del Rio, vice president of wind technology strategy at EDF Renewables North America noted: “The Milligan project marks the third order for EDF to deploy the SG4.5-145 in 2020.”

SGRE’s secured two orders in April encompassing a total of 487MW from EDF.

The 145-metre-diamater rotored SG4.5-145, which offers a flexible power rating from 4.2MW to 4.8MW depending on site conditions, flies 71-metre blades that feature aerodynamics and noise reduction systems including SG's ‘ DinoTails’ technology