World’s most powerful wind turbine completed by Siemens Gamesa

German-owned turbine maker finished installing blades on its 21.5MW prototype yesterday

Installation of the turbine sees Siemens Gamesa leapfrog Chinese manufacturers that have in recent years dominated a wind industry 'arms race'.
Installation of the turbine sees Siemens Gamesa leapfrog Chinese manufacturers that have in recent years dominated a wind industry 'arms race'.Photo: Siemens Gamesa

Siemens Gamesa has completed the installation of the world’s most powerful wind turbine at a test centre in Denmark in a landmark achievement for the German-owned manufacturer.

The final blades were installed on the 21.5MW prototype offshore machine yesterday at the Østerild test centre in northern Denmark.

Photos and videos of the completed turbine have been published in Danish media.

The SG DD-276 prototype turbine has been the wind industry’s worst-kept secret for much of the last year.

Speculation regarding the machine has been rife since the EU revealed in January last year that it had handed the OEM €30m ($33m) from its innovation fund to build the world’s “most powerful offshore wind turbine prototype.”
But Siemens Gamesa has remained tight-lipped about the prototype and a spokesperson for German parent company Siemens Energy declined to comment on the completion of its installation when approached by Recharge.
A photo of the SG DD-276 prototype turbine before its blades were installed.Photo: Peter Musgaard Sauer, Østerild visitor centre coordinator
The power rating of the machine and its 276-metre rotor diameter were only officially confirmed for the first time at the start of this year when the Danish Energy Agency published details regarding its prototype certificate.
Siemens Energy CEO Christian Bruch did speak about the prototype in February, downplaying its immediate importance and saying that its commercial viability still needs to be confirmed.

The turbine represents a massive jump from Siemens Gamesa’s current largest 14MW offshore wind turbine.

It represents a spectacular achievement for the OEM, not least because it leapfrogs leading Chinese turbine makers that have recently dominated the race to build ever larger machines to claim the mantle of owning the world’s largest installed wind turbine.

Chinese OEMs Mingyang and CRRC have both installed 20MW offshore prototypes in the last year, albeit Mingyang’s suffered a double blade break during testing in December. Numerous Chinese OEMs have however announced and even produced components for machines rated 25MW and 26MW, with plans to install them as soon as this year.

Siemens Gamesa’s Danish rival Vestas has said it wants to leave the wind turbine ‘arms race’ to others as it focuses on gaining traction for its current 15MW model.

In his February comments, Bruch said that, as a leader in offshore wind, his company 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.”

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Published 3 April 2025, 10:31Updated 3 April 2025, 10:40
Siemens EnergySiemens GamesaGermanyEuropeTechnology