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Siemens Energy will be supplying 98 wind turbines for the Crossroads wind power plant in Oklahoma, USA. In addition, Siemens Energy and Samsung C&T Corporation have signed an agreement to supply wind turbines to Ontario, Canada.
Owner of the Oklahoma project is OG&E (Oklahoma Gas & Electric). Siemens will supply 95 units of the SWT-2.3-101 to the Crossroads project. Furthermore, the contract includes three units of the new SWT-3.0-101, Siemens' new gearless direct drive wind turbine. The SWT-3.0-101 was launched for sale in America just a few months ago.
Construction of the 227.5 megawatts (MW) wind power project will begin in late August, with the first wind turbines being delivered in April, 2011. The Crossroads project will be built in Dewey County in northwest Oklahoma, approximately 160 km (100 miles) from Oklahoma City. The scope of supply for the Crossroads wind farm includes the delivery, installation and commissioning of all turbines. Siemens will also provide services for turbine service and maintenance for an initial period of three and one-half years.
Upon completion in the second half of 2011, Crossroads will be able to meet the electrical needs of more than 68,000 average U.S. homes. This is already the third Siemens wind power plant that will provide clean energy to OG&E, following the OU Spirit and Keenan II wind farms, built in 2009 and 2010, respectively.
The Canadian project will have a total capacity of up to 600 megawatts (MW). The wind turbines to be delivered under this supply agreement will be deployed at selected wind projects in southern Ontario and will provide clean power to approximately 240,000 Canadian homes. Furthermore, Siemens will establish a blade manufacturing site in Canada that is set to create up to 300 jobs in the province.
Siemens has been working with Samsung C&T and its development partner Pattern Energy on this first phase of development under Ontario's Feed-in Tariff (FIT) program where Samsung has committed to develop 2,000 MW of wind power over the next six years. The new wind turbine supply agreement is a significant step on the road to realizing this commitment.
The installed capacity of wind power in Canada is expected to increase from 3,400 MW today to more than 15,000 MW in 2020. Siemens already has a strong presence in Canada, so far the company has installed a total of 130 2.3-MW rated wind turbines at Kruger Energy's 101.2-MW Port Alma wind farm and TransAlta's 197.8-MW Wolfe Island wind farm in Ontario, and is supplying an additional 152 units of its 2.3-MW wind turbines to four recently announced projects, which will bring Siemens installed capacity to a total of 550 MW by the end of 2011.