MHI Vestas Turbine Brings Offshore Wind into 9MW Realm

MHI Vestas Offshore Wind has unveiled its uprated 8MW wind turbine which enables the platform to reach 9MW at specific site conditions.

The company’s prototype at Østerild broke the energy generation record for a commercially available offshore wind turbine on Thursday, 1 December, producing 216,000 kWh, or 215,999.1 kWh to be exact, over a 24-hour period.

The new V164 can reach a rated power of 9MW depending on specific site conditions, MHI Vestas said. The increased energy production per wind turbine will add greater value for many projects and save on Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) costs as fewer machines will be needed to meet the park capacity, according to the company.

“We are committed to delivering turbine technology that is in line with the development of our industry, based on our 20+ years of offshore experience. Reliability remains a key enabler, and our approach to developing our existing platform supports this strategy,” said Torben Hvid Larsen, the company’s CTO.

“Our prototype at Østerild sets yet another record for power production, producing 216,000 kWh over a 24 hour period. We are confident that the 9 MW machine has now proven that it is ready for the market and we believe that our wind turbine will play an integral part in enabling the offshore industry to continue to drive down the cost of energy.”

The 9MW wind turbine is based on the V164-8.0 MW, a machine already installed at the 258MW Burbo Bank Extension, and which has a firm order book of over 1.6GW.

Installation of the first project with the most powerful serially produced turbine was completed on 14 December 2016, utilising the V164-8.0 MW.

The new re-powered turbine comes shortly after Siemens received prototype certificate for its 8MW prototype, and as Adwen is getting ready to install its first 8MW prototype at an offshore wind turbine test field in Bremerhaven.