Winds of change - ArcelorMittal and Siemens cooperate to supply the next generation of wind farms
ArcelorMittal offers a wide range of quality steels for all parts of wind turbines including foundations, towers, flanges, nacelle structures, connections, gearing, bearings, and generators. But it’s in offshore wind farms where our steels face their biggest challenges including high tides, the effects of salt water, and in some locations, extremely low temperatures.
Offshore wind farms built with ArcelorMittal’s quality steels
ArcelorMittal customer Siemens supplies turbines for some of the world’s largest and most remote offshore wind farms. At sites like the Baltic 2 installation, the wind turbines are subject to extreme climatic conditions such as freezing waters and regular storm surges.
Quality is key
As part of our long-term agreement with Siemens, ArcelorMittal has already supplied heavy duty steel plates to four of the company’s largest offshore installation projects (see table). With some wind farms positioned more than 50 kilometres offshore, quality is a key consideration for Siemens. To ensure that the steels are of the highest standard, Siemens conducts regular audits to document production quality.
Most of the plates are made with grade S355 – a quality, weldable, fine-grained structural steel. Depending on the performance required, the impact properties of the steel can be guaranteed at temperatures as low as -50°C.
Bringing energy to you
The wind farms for which Siemens has already created the turbines are generating more than 1,500 megawatts (MW) of electricity each year – enough to power more than a million homes and reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly. Thanks to the great success of these projects, ArcelorMittal will continue producing steels for Siemens’ onshore and offshore wind farms.
Existing offshore projects where ArcelorMittal’s steels are being used include:
- Baltic 2: 41 of the 80 towers are using ArcelorMittal plates in S355NL, S355K2-N and S355 J2-N. With a capacity of 288 MW, Baltic 2 is located 32 km off the shore with depths in water depths ranging between 23-44m.
- Borkung Riffgrund I: all 77 wind towers are built with ArcelorMittal steel plates in S355J0+N, S355J2+N and S355JR+N. This 312 MW wind park is located 54 km off shore with depths of 23-29m.
- Gwynt y Môr: a 576 MW off shore windfarm with 160 wind towers, 116 of which were built with ArcelorMittal steel (S355J2+N, S355J0+N and S355JR+N). This wind park is located13 km off shore where water depths range between 12 and 28 m.
- West Duddon Sands: 22 of the 108 wind towers were built using ArcelorMittal plates (S355JR+N, S355J0 and S355J2+N): Located 15 km off shore in water depths between 17 and 24 m, West Duddon Sands has a capacity of 389 MW.
Text: ArcelorMittal Europe - Flat Products
Copyright picture: Siemens