Siemens signs long-term service extension for Rhyl Flats offshore wind farm in North Wales

Siemens has signed a long-term agreement with Rhyl Flats Wind Farm Ltd., 50.1% owned by RWE AG, to continue providing service and maintenance at the Rhyl Flats wind farm off the coast of North Wales for the next 15 years.

Siemens has been providing service and maintenance for the 25 SWT-3.6-107 turbines at Rhyl Flats since the project became operational in 2009. This agreement marks the first 15-year post-warranty offshore service extension for Siemens and extends the term through the lifecycle of the turbines.

Siemens’ offshore wind service and maintenance operations offer the latest in innovative concepts and safety logistics designed to provide optimal efficiency and reliability. Remote monitoring and diagnostics, along with Siemens’ expert service personnel, will combine to help the offshore turbines at Rhyl Flats continue to operate at optimal levels.

“This new long-term agreement further strengthens our position as the world’s leading service provider for offshore wind and underscores our ability to help our customers realize the full potential of their wind turbines throughout the units’ estimated lifecycle,” said Mark Albenze, head of Siemens Power Generation Services, Wind Power and Renewables. “The Rhyl Flats Wind Farm is one of 12 offshore wind projects Siemens is providing expert service and maintenance for in Great Britain and we are particularly proud that our services continue to make a growing contribution towards the implementation of an environmentally friendly, reliable power supply in the region.”

Rhyl Flats is located approximately 5 miles (8 kilometers) off the coast of North Wales. It has a maximum installed capacity of 90 MW and can provide enough clean energy to satisfy the needs of approximately 61,000 average homes in Wales every year. When combined with the RWE’s nearby North Hoyle wind farm and the soon to be completed Gwynt y Môr offshore project, also using Siemens technology, the three projects will be capable of generating energy to power more than 500,000 homes – more than a third of the total number of homes in all of Wales.

Siemens offshore service personnel for Rhyl Flats are based at an operations and maintenance base built at the Port of Mostyn. The port is also the service and maintenance base for the 576 MW Gwynt y Môr offshore project.

Siemens currently provides service and maintenance for more than 8,700 wind turbines globally, with a combined generating capacity of approximately 21 gigawatts (GW).