The total order volume is more than 1.5 billion euros with more than 70 percent of the budget provided on the basis of project financing. This makes the project the largest ever project-financed offshore wind farm. When complete, it will supply more than one and a half million people with clean electricity.
Each turbine has a 4MW capacity and a rotor diameter of 130 metres. The plant will be located in the Dutch North Sea, 85 kilometres from the coast of Groningen. It will have an overall capacity of 600MW yielding 2.6 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity per year and displacing 1.25 million tons of carbon dioxide per year. The Gemini project is the first order for Siemens from a Dutch offshore wind farm and will include the ongoing presence of a service vessel and ground readiness of a helicopter and a 15-year service and maintenance agreement. This will ensure that maintenance work can be carried out at all times irrespective of the weather conditions or wave height.
“With the project we are entering one of the most important emerging offshore wind markets in Europe” said Markus Tacke, CEO of Siemens Energy Wind Power Division.
Northland Power Inc, a Canadian independent power producer, is the main shareholder in the projects multi-source financing model owning sixty percent of the shares. Another twenty percent are owned by Siemens Financial Services with smaller stakes owned by Van Oord (ten percent) and HVC (ten percent).
Now that all the project financing and building and supply contracts are in place, the focus is shifting to the construction phase. The wind farm will play an important role in helping the Dutch government to meet its targets under the European Union Renewable Energy Directive.
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