Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) started life as the world’s leading offshore turbine maker, due to Siemens Wind Power’s dominance of the sector. But the new company began to lose ground last year when rivals MHI Vestas and GE unveiled new 10MW and 12MW models, respectively, potentially giving them an edge for the coming gigawatt-scale projects around the world.

But in January, SGRE chief executive Markus Tacke pulled back the curtain on a new 10MW design with a whopping 193-metre-diameter rotor engineered to churn out 30% more annual energy production than its current prestige model, the 8MW SG 8.0-167.

Yet the SG 10.0-193 DD — the prototype of which is set to be up and turning this year and to be shipped out from 2022 — is meant only to "bridge market demand" until the OEM's “true step change”, the as-yet-unnameplated ‘1X’ platform, is in showrooms in 2024-25.

“This is the next step in our ongoing, further development of our existing platform. The new [model] combines experiences and knowledge from five generations of proven direct-drive technology in one 10MW turbine,” says Tacke, adding that the turbine would be a “showcase of strong performance, swift time-to-market, and low-risk offshore wind energy”.

The 10MW design — known internally as the Mark 5 — re-uses most components from previous generations, he noted, “for the supply chain, to provide a shorter time to market”, though it is the first ultra-large SGRE offshore turbine “where the outside dimensions [of the nacelle] are going up”, reflecting a larger drivetrain and beefed-up generator.

SGRE will manufacture the nacelles for the 10MW at its recently opened facility in Cuxhaven, Germany, with blades being delivered through “some combination” of fabrication at its factories in Hull in northeast England and Aalborg in Denmark.

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