Vattenfall has successfully installed a record-breaking 8.8MW wind turbine at its European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) in Aberdeen Bay.
The upgraded version of MHI Vestas’ V164 model is the most powerful wind turbine to be deployed commercially anywhere in the world.
Vattenfall is installing a total of 11 turbines at the facility – one further 8.8MW turbine and nine 8.4MW versions of the V164 model. With a combined capacity of 93.2MW, they will produce enough electricity each year to meet 70 per cent of Aberdeen’s annual needs.
The turbines have a tip height of 191 metres and each blade is 80 metres long, giving a total rotor diameter of 164 metres – hence the name.
The record was previously held by the 8MW V164 turbines deployed by Dong Energy (now Orsted) and its partners at the Burbo Bank extension in Liverpool Bay.
EOWDC project director at Vattenfall, Adam Ezzamel, said: “The first turbine installation is a significant achievement and credit to the diligence and engineering know-how of the project team and contractors.”
He continued: “We are very excited by the cutting-edge technology deployed on all the turbines and it is remarkable that just one rotation of the blades can power the average UK home for a day.”
MHI Vestas chief operations officer Flemming Ougaard said: “We are very pleased to have installed the first of 11 turbines at Aberdeen Bay. Our collaboration with Vattenfall not only provides clean wind energy for the UK, but also is an important opportunity for us to gain valuable experience with several different technologies.
“We look forward to the successful installation of the remaining turbines.”
MHI Vestas has previously deployed an even more powerful 9MW prototype version of its V164 design at the Osterild test centre in Denmark, later upgrading the turbine to 9.5MW before it caught fire in August last year due to a faulty component.
The 9.5MW version has been selected for use at the Triton Knoll and Moray East offshore wind projects, both of which won Contracts for Difference in the latest auction in September at respective strike prices £74.75/MWh and £57.50/MWh.
In March, GE Renewable Energy unveiled plans to invest $400 million over the next three to five years in the development of a new 12MW turbine, known as Haliade-X, with a 220-metre-wide rotor and a tip height of 260 metres.
Orsted has predicted that turbines of between 13MW and 15MW will be available for commercial deployment by 2024, citing this as the reason why it successfully bid for the right to build two offshore wind projects in Germany without any subsidies April last year.