Siemens Energy CEO: 21MW offshore wind giant is only 'test turbine'

Siemens Energy CEO Christian Bruch downplayed the immediate importance of wind unit Siemens Gamesa’s recently erected 21.5MW offshore machine, calling the prototype a “test turbine” the commercial viability of which still needs to be confirmed.

The prototype is being installed onshore at the Østerild test centre in Denmark.

Bruch said his company as a leader in offshore wind wants to make sure it remains the “innovation leader”, but regarding the prototype added: “People are getting worked up about it too much. What we are doing is, we are testing the limitations of technology and want to understand what makes sense.

“But what we do believe is that, if we want to ramp up technologies at a certain speed and rate, and if the number of potential locations is finite, then obviously the sheer size of the turbine in terms of the profitability of the project would be relevant, of course,” Bruch told journalists.

He added that Siemens Gamesa is interested in trying to understand what it means commercially to make a turbine larger, both in terms of availability, maintainability, and material requirements.

“This is precisely what this test project and this test turbine is about,” he said.

“Whether or not it is going to be a commercially viable project, is something that we will be deciding at a later point.”

US offshore wind under construction will not be stopped

Asked about the anti-wind moves by US President Donald Trump, Bruch said those have an impact when it comes to new offshore wind projects, but wind farms already under construction would still be built, the company and its clients reckon.

"They will not be stopped," Bruch said, adding that the US offshore wind market "is not the largest market worldwide", while Europe and Asia are much more important for Siemens Gamesa.

In onshore wind, "the United States is not all that important" for the company, he added.