Siemens Gamesa 5.X on bright course with 5 GW of sales in record time
Madrid / 26 January 2023
The Siemens Gamesa 5.X onshore wind platform is fast on its way to becoming a benchmark in the industry, and reaching 5 GW of sales will give new customers confidence that they will receive a robust and top performing wind turbine, says CEO of the company’s onshore business, Richard Luijendijk.
The Siemens Gamesa 5.X was launched in April 2019, and today’s milestone makes it the company’s top selling onshore wind turbine. Solid sales growth has been achieved having successfully overcome most of the internal hurdles including ramp up production challenges, as well as industry-wide issues including a global pandemic. This in turn led to major supply chain disruptions and swirling inflationary costs that have pressured global manufacturers to raise the cost of turbines being rolled out in wind projects across the world.
But overcoming obstacles has led to a now robust Siemens Gamesa 5.X wind turbine that is being installed in projects globally, which will have a huge impact on the communities where we operate as well as massive environmental benefits. In fact, once all operational, these first 5 GW of turbines will power more than four million homes and help avoid over 13 million tons of CO2 emissions a year. This is possible thanks to the wind turbine’s large rotor sizes of 155 and 170-meters, allowing the most advanced model to offer a nominal capacity of 7 MW.
A key short-term goal under the company’s strategy program Mistral is product maturity in the Siemens Gamesa 5.X onshore platform and its rapid growth in sales underlines that Siemens Gamesa is on the right path to stabilize the business and realize its long-term potential.
“The 5.X may have had a bumpy start, but there are now over 150 units installed, and there will be approaching 1,000 once we reach 5 GW of installations. We have learned a lot from these first turbines, can see them technically mature and are confident that this is the right product for our customers,” said Siemens Gamesa’s onshore CEO for the Northern Europe and Middle East region, Clark MacFarlane.
Nordics lead the way
So far, a significant part of the Siemens Gamesa 5.X turbines orders has come from the Nordic European countries, which are often early adopters of leading renewable technology, in fact accounting for 3.5 GW in sales since the platform’s launch. Sweden and Finland represent the largest share of these sales thanks to their permitting processes for larger wind turbines of this type, allowing for its fast adoption in these countries.
Annike Soerensen, Siemens Gamesa onshore senior sales manager for our NEME region, has played a key role in this sales performance, having worked on the very first 5.X contract in Skaftaasen, Sweden.
“The acceptance of the Siemens Gamesa 5.X has been fantastic in the Nordics supported by permitting for taller towers and customers requiring larger rotors providing maximum power. The market looks strong there in the years to come and we also expect the new platform to gain traction in other countries within the region,” says Annike.
We have learned a lot from these first turbines, can see them technically mature and are confident that this is the right product for our customers
Engineering leaps
Producing the technology behind the Siemens Gamesa 5.X has also meant taking many leaps forward in engineering, including pushing the rotor sizes higher to provide customers with the maximum power for their projects.
Working behind the scenes on the new platform is a large and diverse team of engineers led by Martin Hansson, chief engineer for the platform. He stressed that while we have already delivered a lot, that more was yet to come from the team.
New advances will help push the machine to new markets in the coming years, including making it increasingly more modular, so it can be produced and transported more easily.
“The Siemens Gamesa 5.X will be one of the pivotal wind turbines for Siemens Gamesa in the years to come. There is still plenty of work to do as we continuously strive to bring better, more competitive and innovative variants to our customers,” said Martin.
Where next for the Siemens Gamesa 5.X?
Sweden and Finland have clearly been the stand-out performers for the Siemens Gamesa 5.X in terms of sales. But many other countries have also come on-board, including Brazil, Germany and Spain. And more recently, they have been joined by sales in both North Macedonia and Scotland, as well as the largest ever wind project in Canada with a total capacity of 495 MW, as the platform touches down in North America for the first time.
But sales for the Siemens Gamesa 5.X are set to grow much further, in fact, these are estimated to account for around 60% of all Siemens Gamesa onshore wind turbine sales in the 2024-2027 period.
“We have seen a very successful commercial performance for the Siemens Gamesa 5.X, and all efforts are now set towards both growing in current markets and entering new ones. We are confident that the platform will be the bread and butter for onshore sales in the years ahead,” said Juan Diego Díaz Vega, global head of onshore marketing for Siemens Gamesa.
For now, others are on the horizon, according to Annike, who said the sales teams are eyeing new opportunities in the Baltics, and to also accelerate work in Germany which has ramped up its energy ambitions for onshore wind. She stressed, however, that everything must be in place to be able to serve all the projects.
The journey for the Siemens Gamesa 5.X has begun strongly with a record 5 GW of sales already under its belt. This couldn’t have been possible without the hard work of our most experienced and talented experts who have been instrumental in driving the platform to become the industry benchmark. But much is yet to come for a wind turbine that will help drive a clean energy transition globally.
“The Siemens Gamesa 5.X offers a strong proposition to help develop a greener future built on renewable energies. Only by working closely with governments, policy makers and long-standing partners, can we deliver on our promises and support countries reach energy stability all while mitigating the climate crisis,” said Richard.
