Renewable Power Generation
Overview
Wind power
Wind power is a rapidly growing segment. Since 2003, Siemens has installed wind turbines with an output of over 3,300 megawatt. They help save 7.2 million tons of CO2 per year, compared with the average power production of fossil-fired power plants.
Siemens supplies highly efficient, rugged and reliable wind turbines for large-scale on-shore and off-shore plants. The rated output ranges from 2.3 megawatt for low to medium wind forces and 3.6 megawatt for high wind forces. Siemens is the global market leader for offshore wind farms. In the on-shore segment, the company is building what is currently the largest European wind farm (322 megawatt) in Whitelee, Scotland. In 2007, Siemens constructed the Burbo offshore wind farm near Liverpool in record time for the Danish power company DONG. This ocean wind farm produces environmentally friendly electricity for 80,000 households.
Siemens manufactures the rotor blades in our patented Integral Blade process. Siemens rotor blades are made of fiberglass and have no seams, allowing them to withstand hurricane-strength winds. In the future, our rotor blades will be even bigger (up to 60 meters long), allowing them to drive even more powerful turbines. The most powerful wind turbine today produces 100 times the output of the “windmills” used 25 years ago.
| Customer benefits |
|---|
| - Established technology - Efficient, competitive power generation - High reliability - No fuel costs or emissions - Enables power suppliers to meet imposed renewable energy quotas |
| Environmental benefits |
|---|
| - Emission-free technology - Saving potential of installed Siemens wind turbines as of 2003: 7.2 million tons of CO2 per year |
Solar power
There are two different methods for producing power from solar energy. One is through photovoltaic plants, which use solar cells to convert solar radiation directly into electrical energy. The other involves solar thermal power plants, which produce steam from solar energy and use it to drive a turbine to generate electricity. The latter are usually more efficient than photovoltaic systems, but can be operated economically only in very sunny regions.
Siemens offers an extensive portfolio of products for both technologies, ranging from turnkey planning, construction and commissioning of photovoltaic plants to special turbines for solar thermal plants. In Italy’s largest photovoltaic plant, which Siemens brought online in Calabria in 2007, 5,500 solar modules generate 1.4 gigawatt hours of electricity in an area the size of one-and-a-half soccer fields. This energy, which is generated without producing CO2, benefits 350 households. Siemens is a leading supplier of inverters for photovoltaic systems.
It is also the market leader for steam turbines used in solar thermal power plants. The company supplied two SST-700 steam turbines to the Andasol 1 and 2 solar thermal plants in Andalusia, Spain. Once they have been connected to the power grid, which is scheduled for 2009, the installations will form the largest power plant of this kind anywhere in the world, providing a collector area of 1.1 million square meters and an output of 50 megawatt per installation. They will be able to meet the energy needs of a city of 50,000 households, saving up to 172,000 tons of CO2 per year.
| Customer benefits |
|---|
| - Solar energy is a nearly inexhaustible energy source - No fuel costs - No emissions - Decentralized (off-grid) use in regions without extensive network infrastructure |
| Environmental benefits |
|---|
| - CO2-free power generation - Emission-free – no air pollution (nitrogen oxides, etc.) - Uses an unlimited energy source; no resources needed for operation |
Biomass
A biomass power plant generates electricity and/or heat by burning renewable resources (biomass). Common renewable energy sources are wood and wood waste (chips, pellets), straw and fermented residue such as sewage sludge, biowaste and liquid manure. Unlike in the production of biodiesel/bioethenol from materials such as corn, rapeseed or sugar cane, biomass power plants usually do not compete for resources that can also be used for food.
Biomass is considered a renewable energy source, since it is generally CO2-neutral. The amount of CO2 that plants need for growth is equal to the amount released during combustion. In the biomass sector, Siemens is active in the field of power plant technology, where it supplies turbo-machinery. The company’s major projects include a biomass cogeneration plant in Baden-Württemberg, two unit-type cogeneration plants fired with biomass fuel in Vorarlberg, the largest biomass power plant in the United Kingdom and the largest European wood-fueled biomass power plant in Vienna.
| Customer benefits |
|---|
| - Economical use of biowaste and waste materials - High plant availability through the use of industry-proven components - Extremely high efficiency, due to combined heat and power generation |
| Environmental benefits |
|---|
| - CO2-neutral power generation - Use of existing natural and renewable resources |