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World's Largest Onshore Wind Turbine Order Coming to U.S.

Brandon Baker
Dec. 16, 2013 10:27AM EST Business

The largest single order of wind turbines for an onshore energy project is coming to the U.S.

Siemens announced today that MidAmerican Energy purchased 448 turbines to be deployed in five different projects in Iowa. Collectively, the turbines have a capacity of 1,050 megawatts (MW).

"This represents not only the largest order for onshore wind turbines for Siemens, but also the largest single order for onshore wind power awarded globally to date," according to a statement from Germany-based Siemens.

The 2.3-megawatt turbines MidAmerican Energy purchased from Siemens are used in many projects, such as the Vienna wind power plant in Iowa. Photo credit: Siemens

The turbines are valued at more than $1 billion, according to Bloomberg.

Each wind turbine in the order has power output of 2.3 MW and is 108 meters in diameter. The nacelles and hubs for the turbines will be assembled at Siemens' plant in Hutchinson, KS while rotor blades will be developed in Fort Madison, IA. Siemens will install and maintain the turbines for MidAmerican.

By the time the order announced Wednesday is completed in 2015, Siemens will have installed enough wind power for MidAmerican to supply 660,000 American homes with energy.  

“The U.S. is leading the way toward grid parity,” said Markus Tacke, CEO of Siemens Energy’s wind power division. “The industry needs volume and these large orders help drive down the costs of wind power.”

 Iowa gets about a quarter of its power from wind, according to the American Wind Energy Association. The state is ranked third in the U.S. in total wind MW installed.

Graphic credit: American Wind Energy Association

The state also has the seventh best wind resource in the country. Wind power in Iowa is capable of meeting more than 44 times the state's electricity needs.

MidAmerican is the same company working on a wind energy project to power Facebook's data center in Altoona, IA.

Visit EcoWatch’s RENEWABLES page for more related news on this topic.

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