🚨 Exclusive: new data and images of Siemens Gamesa's impressive 21 MW prototype
Siemens Gamesa is transporting the components of its 21 MW prototype from Brande to Østerild. We take a look at what is known about this wind turbine.
Hello everyone and welcome to a new issue of Windletter. I'm Sergio Fernández Munguía (@Sergio_FerMun) and here we discuss the latest news in the wind power sector from a different perspective. If you enjoy the newsletter and are not subscribed, you can do so here.
Windletter is sponsored by:
🔹 Tetrace. Specialized services in operation and maintenance, engineering, supervision, inspection, technical assistance, and distribution of spare parts in the wind sector. More information here.
🔹 RenerCycle. Development and commercialization of solutions and specialized services in the circular economy for renewable energies, including comprehensive dismantling of wind farms and waste management, refurbishment and sale of components and wind turbines, management and recycling of blades and others. More information here.
Windletter está disponible en español aquí
Data and images of Siemens Gamesa's 21 MW offshore prototype
The 21 MW Siemens Gamesa offshore prototype has been an open secret for months. In fact, back in April, in issue #77, we reviewed all the public information available about this prototype, on which SGRE has not yet made a single public announcement or statement..
Rumors about this turbine began circulating thanks to documentation published by the European Commission through the Innovation Funds. That documentation mentioned the HIPPOW project (Highly Innovative Prototype of the most Powerful Offshore Wind turbine generator), hinting at what was coming.
Shortly after, citing conversations during WindEurope 2024, Eize de Vries published an extensive article in Windpowermonthly detailing the turbine. Similarly, consulting firm Roland Berger recently mentioned this model in its report on wind turbine standardization. But in recent times there has not been many more leaks about the prototype.
However, despite Siemens Gamesa managing to keep this secret exceptionally well under the circumstances, the time has come when it’s no longer possible to hide a giant of such dimensions.
Last Friday, December 6th, in the afternoon, the prototype (also known as MkVII) began its journey from Siemens Gamesa’s R&D center in Brande to the iconic Østerild Test Centre, where it will be tested.
Of course, it has been literally impossible for the largest wind turbine ever built in Europe to be transported unnoticed.
Over the past few days, a convoy of several trucks transporting the nacelle, hub, and direct drive generator of the hypothetical SG21-276 DD (commercial name yet to be confirmed) has been spotted crossing the Jutland region. Naturally, videos and photos of this have surfaced.
The photos you see in this post, by the way, were sent to us by a Windletter reader. So, from here, a big thank you.
The components were transported 100 km to the port of Hvide Sande. From there, they were loaded onto a barge for transport to the port closest to Østerild (Hantsholm), where they will have to travel another 20 kilometers by road.
Although the road distance between Brande and Østerild is about 150 kilometers, it appears technically impossible to transport these components entirely by land. You can find photos of the components waiting at the port of Hvide Sande through this link.
In fact, according to some videos published by the Danish press, parts of the journey have been particularly delicate. I’ve included a couple of videos from the local outlet tvmv, but you can find much more visual material on their website (here and here).
Regarding the technical specifications of the turbine, the information leaked so far across various media and social networks (unofficial and unconfirmed) includes the following:
Technology: Siemens Gamesa continues to rely on its Direct Drive technology, even though some competitors (Vestas and some Chinese OEMs) have shifted to the Medium Speed Permanent Magnet Generator with gearbox.
Power: According to some rumors, the power could range between 21 and 23 MW, depending on the typical Power Boost function SGRE usually offers for its offshore turbines. This represents a leap of over 50% compared to the SG14.0-236 DD.
Rotor diameter: The blades are rumored to be 135 meters long, for a rotor diameter of 276 meters.
Output voltage: 132 kV on the high-voltage side of the transformers located in the nacelle. This will likely be the first wind turbine in the world to use this voltage level—typical of substations and high-voltage transmission lines. This leap has been discussed in various forums for a long time and now seems to be materializing.
AEP (Annual Energy Production): For the same location, an increase of 30-35% compared to the SG14.0-236 DD.
Regarding the tower, thanks to another report from the Danish press, we know it is already installed, awaiting the arrival of the remaining components, and stands between 160 and 170 meters tall.
Interestingly, I suspect the tower visible on Google Maps is for this prototype (the image is from 2024), which would mean it has been standing for several months waiting for the other components.
By the way, judging from the photos, I estimate the nacelle height to be around 10 meters, equivalent to a three-story building.
It’s reasonable to expect more news and visual material about the final transport and installation of the turbine in the coming days and weeks, as keeping it a secret any longer is impossible. However, to see it in operation, we may still have to wait a few months. We’ll stay tuned at Windletter, so if you don’t want to miss out, subscribe.
Last but not least, it’s worth noting that this model is not yet officially for sale by Siemens Gamesa and doesn’t even appear on their website. Indeed, SGRE has not made any official statements regarding this turbine; publicly, it has been as if it doesn't exist.
This is highly relevant because, in recent times, all Western OEMs have always announced (and even sold) their new wind turbine models while they were still just paper designs.
It would be logical to assume that this time Siemens Gamesa prefers to take a more cautious approach and wait to test the prototype before greenlighting its market launch. However, it’s hard to believe that many conversations with major developers haven’t already taken place behind the scenes.
Thank you very much for reading Windletter and many thanks to Tetrace and RenerCycle, our main sponsors, for making it possible. If you liked it:
Give it a ❤️
Share it on WhatsApp with this link
And if you feel like it, recommend Windletter to help me grow 🚀
See you next time!
Disclaimer: The opinions presented in Windletter are mine and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.