MHI Vestas has announced the launch of 10MW offshore wind turbine at the Global Wind Summit held recently in Hamburg, Germany.

MHI Vestas

Image: MHI Vestas launches 10MW offshore turbine. Photo: Courtesy of MHI Vestas Offshore Wind.

MHI Vestas stated that its V164 turbine platform has achieved a power rating of 10MW and this turbine is available for sale. The V164-10.0MW turbine will be available for commercial installation from 2021.

As per the company, the new model is based on the V164 platform.

Currently, there are claimed to be more than 100 of the V164 turbines installed across the UK and Germany. The company was able to leverage technological learning and the incremental innovations to push the boundaries from 8MW up to 10MW.

MHI Vestas CEO Philippe Kavafyan said: “What was unreachable before has become the new benchmark. In launching the V164-10.0 MW today, MHI Vestas is proud to contribute this major milestone to the offshore wind industry. And it gives us the opportunity to pay tribute to all the wind industry pioneers who have led us to this historic, double-digit nominal capacity.”

As per the joint venture company,  the upgrades needed to reach the new level are comparatively small.

The V164-10.0MW has a stronger gearbox, some minor mechanical upgrades and a small design change to improve air flow and increase the cooling in the converter. These upgrades are expected to help run the new turbine at full power, at sites with wind speeds of 10 meters per second for 25 years from the date of installation.

The rotor diameter of the new turbine is 164 meters. Each of the blades is 80m in length and weighs 35 tonnes each. The swept area of the blades is 21,124m2. The nacelle is 20m long, 8m wide and 8m high and weighs 390 tonnes. The hub height of the turbine is 105m and the tip height is 187m.  A single turbine can power nearly 6000 German homes.

MHI Vestas chief technology officer Torben Hvid Larsen said: “At MHI Vestas, we are focused not on what others are doing, but being the best at what we do.

“The V164-10.0 MW turbine is the best proof point yet that we do not accept the limitations of conventional thinking and that we think beyond ourselves. We have embraced the challenge of transforming what is possible in our field.”