The wind farm is 50.1 percent owned by RWE AG but Siemens has been providing service and maintenance for the facility, which consists of 25 SWT-3.6 107 turbines since the project became operational in 2009. This agreement marks the first 15-year post-warranty offshore service extension for Siemens and extends the the term through the lifecycle of the turbines.
Siemens’ offshore wind service and maintenance operations incorporate a number of innovative concepts and safety logistics which are designed to provide optimal efficiency and reliability. These include remote monitoring and diagnostics which will help to maintain optimal performance of the wind turbines and are supported by expert service personnel.
“This new long-term agreement underscores our ability to help our customers realise the full potential of their wind turbines throughout the units’ estimated lifecycle” said Mark Albenze, head of Siemens Power Generation Services, Wind Power and Renewables. “The Rhyl Flats Wind Farm is one of 12 offshore wind projects Siemens is providing expert service and maintenance for in Great Britain and we are particularly proud that our services continue to make a growing contribution towards the implementation of an environmentally friendly, reliable power supply in the region.”
Rhyl Flats is located approximately 5 miles (8 kilometers) off the coast of North Wales and has a maximum installed capacity of 90 MW. It can provide enough clean energy to satisfy the needs of around 61,000 average homes in Wales every year. When combined with RWE’s North Hoyle wind farm and the soon to be completed Gwynt y Môr offshore project, which also uses Siemens technology, the three projects will be able to generate enough energy to power more than 500,000 homes – more than a third of the total number of homes in all of Wales.
Service personnel for Rhyl Flats are based at an operations and maintenance base at the Port of Mostyn which also serves the 576 MW Gwynt y Môr offshore project. Siemens currently provides service and maintenance for more than 8,700 wind turbines globally, with a combined generating capacity of 21 GW.
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