Australian first for Siemens wind

German industrial giant Siemens is set to enter the Australian wind market for the first time after winning the contract for 90 turbines at the new Snowtown II project in South Australia.
Snowtown II developer TrustPower has awarded Siemens the contract to engineer, procure, construct and maintain the wind farm, which will be the largest in the state.
The project is expected to generate 270 megawatts of renewable energy, or enough to power around 180,000 homes. Completion is expected by the end of 2014.
Siemens will install its gearless drive turbine technology, which is designed for greater reliability and efficiency.
Snowtown II has a purchasing agreement with Origin energy, which will buy all of the output for 15 years. Origin already buys 89 percent of the power from the existing Snowtown I.