Wind turbine manufacturer Vestas has just released its V164 8-megawatt turbine for offshore use, the most powerful wind turbine in the world. The first V164 was recently installed at the Danish National Test Centre for Large Wind Turbines, where it will undergo extensive field testing and performance evaluation.
The V164 was designed to minimize the amount of maintenance required and to make servicing as safe and simple as possible. Turbine efficiency tends to increase with size, and more powerful turbines minimize the number of towers, reducing installation and maintenance costs. Both factors allow wind farms to get the most power for the money. The V164 is built to last at least 25 years in the harsh environment of the North Sea. And when it reaches the end of its life, 80% of the turbine’s material can be recycled.
Spanning a diameter of 164 meters, the rotor sweeps an area the size of three football fields. Its low cut-in speed of 4 m/s allows it to generate power even on calm days, although it’s designed for optimal wind speeds of 12 - 25 m/s (27 - 56 mph). The V164’s 8 MW output means that each turbine can provide enough power for about 7500 homes. A wind farm with 200 of these turbines equals the production of a typical nuclear power plant, and if there’s an earthquake or other natural disaster, the turbines won’t leak radiation into the atmosphere.
Vestas expects to begin mass production of the V164 sometime in 2015.
Image and video courtesy of Vestas