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.
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.
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.
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: