Siemens Energy has secured an order for the 182-megawatt (MW) Panhandle 2 wind power project located in Carson County, Texas, northeast of Amarillo. The project, which will consist of 79 Siemens SWT-2.3-108 wind turbines, is being developed by Pattern Energy Group LP (“Pattern Development”), and Pattern Energy Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PEGI) (TSX: PEG) has committed to acquire the project upon completion. Component deliveries will start in March 2014 and commissioning of the turbines is scheduled for November 2014. The deal also includes a service and maintenance agreement designed to help ensure the ongoing reliability of the project.
“We greatly value our continued partnership with Pattern Development, which is an important and trusted customer with a proven ability to deliver clean, renewable energy. This is the eighth contract we’ve signed with Pattern for projects in the U.S., Canada and Chile”
“We greatly value our continued partnership with Pattern Development, which is an important and trusted customer with a proven ability to deliver clean, renewable energy. This is the eighth contract we’ve signed with Pattern for projects in the U.S., Canada and Chile,” says Mark Albenze, CEO of Siemens Energy’s Wind Power Americas business.
“This order is further proof that the production tax credit drives U.S. manufacturing jobs as the blades and nacelles for this project will be produced in our U.S. factories,” adds Albenze. The 237 rotor blades with a length of 53 meters each will be manufactured at the Siemens wind turbine blade facility in Fort Madison, Iowa, and the 79 nacelles will be assembled in Hutchinson, Kansas. They will provide nearly 56,000 American households with environmentally friendly power when they commence commercial operations by the end of this year.
“The Panhandle 2 project will use Siemens turbines with rotor blades and nacelles that are made here in the U.S., creating manufacturing jobs, in addition to hundreds of local construction jobs,” said Mike Garland, CEO of Pattern Energy. “These American-made Siemens turbines will harness the power of the wind at one of the windiest sites in Texas, creating a strong new source of clean energy without using any of the region’s limited water supplies.”
The service agreement will help contribute to the long-term reliability, availability and performance of the turbines. It includes Siemens’ innovative remote monitoring and diagnostic solutions as well as advanced weather forecasting techniques to enable predictive maintenance at well-timed periods, which can positively contribute to the power output of the wind farm.
Wind power and energy service are part of Siemens’ Environmental Portfolio. Around 43 percent of its total revenue stems from green products and solutions. That makes Siemens one of the world’s leading providers of eco-friendly technology.