Siemens projects that from 2025 its offshore wind farms will generate electricity at a levelized cost of energy below €0.08/kWh, including grid access to shore.
The German giant said at Global Offshore Wind 2016 in Manchester that it is confident its current goal of generating offshore wind power below €0.10/kWh by 2020 will be reached.
It said 72% of this targeted cost reduction has already been achieved, with almost half attributed to technical improvements with turbines, installation processes, new grid connection technologies, maintenance strategies and logistics.
The reduction over the following five years will be mainly based on the next generation of offshore wind turbines and new, mass-produced offshore foundations, Siemens said.
“The annual energy output can grow by 10% under average offshore wind conditions if rotor diameters and generator output also increase by 10%,” the company added.
Siemens said it will be boosted by mid-2017 by blade manufacturing and wind turbine assembly in Hull in the UK and the nacelle manufacturing in Cuxhaven in Germany.
Digitalization processes could bring additional potential to increase efficiency within the plants, making technology even more economical, the company added.
Siemens said it is to test gravity jacket foundations including a transition piece made out of concrete at a Danish offshore project in 2017.
It added that the grid structure will be assembled using prefabricated nodes and standard steel pipes.
Siemens is currently testing the static strength and corrosion resistance of the nodes.
Further cost reductions could arise from improvements in offshore service concepts and progress in grid access technologies, the company added.
“The 588MW Beatrice project in Scottish waters will utilise compact Siemens Offshore Transformer Modules, cutting costs of AC-grid connections by approximately 40%,” it said.
Image: Siemens 7MW turbine (Siemens)
Siemens aims for €0.08/kWh
Next generation turbines and foundations key to cutting costs offshore
By EBS