Siemens Gamesa, VSB and Max Bögl cooperate on one of Europe's largest repowering projects
Press / Dresden/Hamburg/Sengenthal / 15.02.2023
At the Elster wind farm in Saxony-Anhalt, 50 old onshore wind turbines are being replaced by 16 modern SG 6.6-155. VSB relies on innovative task sharing between hybrid tower manufacturer Max Bögl Wind AG and Siemens Gamesa.
The rapid technological development of wind energy has made it possible for 50 wind turbines at the German Elster wind farm to be replaced by 16 more powerful and modern ones and yet be able to produce six times the amount of clean electricity. With a total capacity of 105.4 MW, the project will become one of the largest repowering projects in Europe and the largest project in Germany to date for Siemens Gamesa. The Elster wind project is located in the German State of Saxony-Anhalt. Each one of its new 16 turbines, erected at a hub height of 165 meters, will deliver 6.6 MW of power. This will enable the wind farm to generate around 235 GWh of electricity annually, supplying around 150,000 homes with clean, affordable and locally produced energy.
"For this supra-regional flagship project, we decided to deviate from our usual purchasing process and instead rely on an innovative new concept," says Thomas Winkler, Managing Director of VSB Neue Energien Deutschland GmbH, the company responsible for planning and construction. "In this scenario, we contract the project partners separately: Siemens Gamesa for SG 6.6-155 turbines and Max Bögl Wind AG for the construction of the foundations and concrete towers. This combination allows us to significantly increase the profitability of the repowering project," Winkler added.
"We are pleased that we can continue the successful cooperation model with Siemens Gamesa here in order to support project developers, such as VSB, in the economic viability of their projects and thus decisively advance the expansion of climate-neutral energy solutions together," emphasizes Josef Knitl, CEO of Max Bögl Wind AG. "Proprietary sustainable and modern concrete technologies are used to manufacture the hybrid tower. By using concrete aggregates, we reduce the CO2 emissions of our concrete by up to 40 percent and improve the footprint compared to alternative tower concepts,” he added.
Christian Essiger, head of Siemens Gamesa's onshore business in Germany, said: "We are delighted that VSB has placed its trust in Siemens Gamesa turbines for the first time in Germany. With the powerful SG 6.6-155, we are setting new standards in terms of electricity production costs and annual energy yield. Together with VSB and Max Bögl Wind AG, we can make an important contribution to climate protection and a secure and affordable energy supply with the Elster project."
At the Elster wind farm, dismantling of the old turbines has already begun and the first areas have been returned to agricultural use. Overall, the repowering reduces the area occupied by the wind farm by 30 percent. The distance to the next settlement will increase from currently 600 meters to at least 1,000 meters. The first construction work to erect the new turbines at the Elster wind farm will begin in spring 2023. Installation of the turbines will start in early 2024, with commissioning scheduled for the third quarter of calendar year 2024. Siemens Gamesa will service the turbines under a 20-year full maintenance contract.
Important contribution to environmental and climate protection and a secure energy supply
The annual savings in CO2 emissions from this project, compared with conventional power supply, amount to around 180,000 metric tons. This is roughly equivalent to the annual emissions of 86,000 mid-size cars driven 12,000 kilometers.
Siemens Gamesa has calculated the ecological balance of the SG 6.6-155 based on 25 years of operation in a European model wind farm. According to this, a wind turbine will deliver 48 times more energy than is consumed in production, installation and operation, and 89 percent of it can be recycled at the end of its service life. Siemens Gamesa aims to increase this rate to one hundred percent by 2040 at the latest. The SG 6.6-155 is part of the benchmark Siemens Gamesa 5.X platform, which has now sold over 5.5 GW of sales. The repowering of the Elster wind farm represents the largest order to date for the Siemens Gamesa 5.X in Germany.
About Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy
Siemens Gamesa unlocks the power of wind. For more than 40 years, we have been a pioneer and leader of the wind industry, and today our team of more than 27,000 colleagues work at the center of the global energy revolution to tackle the most significant challenge of our generation – the climate crisis. With a leading position in onshore, offshore, and service, we engineer, build and deliver powerful and reliable wind energy solutions in strong partnership with our customers. A global business with local impact, we have installed 130 GW and provide access to clean, affordable and sustainable energy that keeps the lights on across the world. To find out more, visit www.siemensgamesa.com and connect with us on social media.
About VSB
VSB, headquartered in Dresden, is one of the leading vertically integrated developers in the field of renewable energies in Europe. The core business is the project development of onshore wind and photovoltaic parks, their operational management as well as the operation of own parks as a growing independent power producer. VSB is represented in nine European countries and has a pipeline of more than 10 GW. To date, more than 700 wind energy and photovoltaic plants with around 1.3 GW of installed capacity have been built since 1996. VSB also provides services of around 1.4 GW. The group and its affiliated companies employ more than 450 people. More information: www.vsb.energy
About Max Bögl Wind AG
Using renewable energies more efficiently and thus actively promoting the energy transition. This is what Max Bögl Wind AG stands for with its innovative and sustainable technology solutions. The company is Germany's market leader in the manufacture, supply and construction of hybrid towers and in 2017 set the record for the world's tallest onshore wind turbines with a hub height of 178 meters. In the field of energy, Max Bögl Wind AG supports medium-sized companies in the conception, planning and realization of energy concepts for their own power supply with renewable energies, efficient storage technologies through to energy management and electricity marketing. Max Bögl Wind AG is a subsidiary of the Max Bögl Group. With over 6,500 highly qualified employees at more than 40 locations worldwide and annual sales of around 2 billion euros, Max Bögl is one of the largest construction, technology and service companies in the German construction industry.
Contacts for journalists
VSB
Doreen Göbel
Phone: +49 351 21183679
Doreen.Goebel@vsb.energy
Siemens Gamesa
Marco Lange
Phone: +49 174 1882479
marco.lange@siemensgamesa.com
