As per the agreed terms, the company will supply 24 units of direct-drive SWT-3.0-101 wind turbines, each with a capacity of around 3MW. These turbines will be installed at four wind power plants in the Nord Pas-de-Calais and Picardie regions in northern France.
Diamond Generating Europe and EDF Energies Nouvelles will each have a 50% share in these wind power plants.
The installation and commissioning of the wind turbines is scheduled for 2014.
Scope of the contract includes supply, installation, commissioning and maintenance of the wind turbines over a period of 15 years.
Commenting on the deal, Siemens Wind Power EMEA Sales CEO Jan Kjaersgaard said that compared to conventional wind turbine technology, Siemens’ direct-drive wind turbine has half the components and substantially fewer rotating parts.
"This enhances reliability and reduces the maintenance scope for the plants. We are pleased to be installing this future-oriented technology for the first time onshore in France," added Kjaersgaard.
Siemens noted that France has outlined plans to install approximately 25GW of wind power by the end of this decade, of which 7.5GW was already in place at the end of 2012.
