Vestas Launches 15 MW Offshore Wind Turbine

Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas has introduced the V236-15.0 MW offshore wind turbine.

With the world’s largest swept area exceeding 43,000 m2, the V236-15.0 MW delivers industry-leading performance and moves the boundaries of wind energy production to around 80 GWh/year, enough to power around 20,000 European households, Vestas said.

The launch of the V236-15.0 MW model is part of Vestas’ plan to become the leading wind turbine manufacturer in offshore wind. The plan was launched recently with the full acquisition of the MHI Vestas Offshore Wind joint venture with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

”Introducing our new offshore platform is a huge achievement for everyone at Vestas, as it marks a big leap forward in a very important journey,” Henrik Andersen, Vestas President and CEO, said.

”As a global renewables leader, every decision Vestas takes today must be in service of building scale for renewables in the future – only by doing this can we ensure a more sustainable future energy system. Offshore wind will play an integral role in the growth of wind energy and the V236-15.0 MW will be a driver in this development by lowering levelised cost of energy thus making our customers more competitive in offshore tenders going forward.”

The globally applicable offshore turbine offers 65 percent higher annual energy production than the V174-9.5 MW, according to Vestas.

For a 900 MW wind farm, the model boosts production by five percent with 34 fewer turbines. The turbine is said to offer excellent partial-load production, resulting in a more stable energy production, and a capacity factor over 60 percent depending on site-specific conditions.

The first V236-15.0 MW prototype is expected to be installed in 2022, while serial production is scheduled for 2024.

The V236-15.0 MW will harness the optimum design synergies from Vestas’ existing turbine platforms, such as the 9 MW and EnVentus, and expand the industrialisation of turbine design through a modular approach to scale components, the turbine maker said.

”With the V236-15.0 MW, we raise the bar in terms of technological innovation and industrialisation in the wind energy industry, in favor of building scale,” Anders Nielsen, Vestas Chief Technology Officer, said.

”By leveraging Vestas’ extensive proven technology, the new platform combines innovation with certainty to offer industry-leading performance while reaping the benefits of building on the supply chain of our entire product portfolio. The new offshore platform forms a solid foundation for future products and upgrades.”