Siemens 2007 Annual Report Download - page 60

60 Energy
fl ow gasifi ers – each boasting a thermal capacity of
500 MWs – we’ve developed a key component for
clean coal-fi red power generation in so-called
inte-
grated gasifi cation combined cycle (IGCC) plants.
Offshore wind power systems
In the booming wind power sector – a prime focus
of CO2-free power generation – we’re the leading
supplier of offshore wind farm systems. Our
products include giant wind turbine rotor blades
manufactured from fi berglass-reinforced epoxy
in a single-cast process based on our patented
IntegralBlade technology. To meet the ever increas-
ing demand for wind power systems, we’re contin-
ually expanding our production capacities.
Our largest wind turbine, the SWT-3.6-107, which
has a rotor diameter of 107 meters and a capacity
of 3.6 MWs, is being used in several major Euro-
pean wind power projects. We’ve installed 54 of
these turbines at the Lynn and Inner Dowsing wind
farm off the east coast of England. When completed
at the end of 2008, this facility – the largest off-
shore wind farm in the world – will supply clean
energy to 130,000 households. We’ll be responsible
for servicing and maintaining the farm’s turbines
during the facility’s fi rst fi ve years of operation.
Since 2003, we’ve installed wind turbines with a
capacity of more than 3,300 MWs – a boon to the en-
vironment, since generating the same amount of
electricity in a fossil fuel power plant would produce
about eight million tons of CO2.
High-voltage direct-current transmission
Wind farms and hydropower plants are almost
always located at a considerable distance from the
population centers and industrial regions where
most electricity is consumed. As a result, power
often has to be transmitted over vast distances and,
when generated at offshore wind farms, via under-
sea cables. Systems using alternating current are not
economically feasible for long-distance applications
since too much energy is lost during transmission.
High-voltage direct-current (HVDC) systems –
although technologically more complex – are the
optimal solution, because they minimize energy
loss. As a leader in HVDC transmission technology,
we’ve already installed several of these low-loss
systems worldwide.
In India and China, for example, we’ve constructed
HVDC transmission lines stretching more than
1,000 kilometers from power plants to consumers
(see page 63). And in the U.S., we’re linking the resi-
dents of New York’s Long Island with a power grid
on the New Jersey mainland via a 105-kilometer