The North Sea conditions are influencing the design of wind turbines and according to Vestas Wind System they are preparing the next generation offshore wind turbine model, called V164, with 164m diameter and 7 MW installed power.
The offshore wind market is set to significantly expand these years in some parts of the world. “We expect the major part of offshore wind development to happen in the Northern Europe where conditions at sea are particularly rough. The V164 will provide the highest energy capture and reliability in this rough and challenging environment. This makes our new wind turbine a good choice for many UK Round-3 projects” said the president of Vestas Offshore Mr. Anders Søe-Jensen.
According to Mr. Finn Strøm Madsen, the president of Vestas Technology R&D, they are focused on two separate and parallel ways of development for new wind turbine prototypes. One is on direct drive and the second on geared design in order to have a medium-speed drive train and a good match between wind turbine specifics and the customer business specific case.
The first V164 prototype construction is expected in late 2012 and the production is set for the beginning of 2015. As a proof of their experience the company says it already has installed 580 offshore wind turbines, which is mean about 43% of all offshore wind turbines in the whole world.
