Vestas to Unveil Design of 6-MW Offshore Wind Turbine Next Month

February 10th, 2011 by Zachary Shahan

OK, maybe I could have waited until next month to cover this, but this is exciting. Vestas has just announced that it will soon unveil to the world the design of its new 6-MW offshore wind turbine.

The turbine, of course, will help to further reduce the long-term cost of wind energy.

Vestas chief executive Ditlev Engel said he would unveil the design at an event on March 30 in London. At the event, the Danish wind energy giant will also give details on how it plans to lead in the exploding offshore wind energy industry.

“We are going to go through the details of Vestas’ focus on this machine in particular, and some of the offshore product related areas and the initiatives I’m hoping Vestas [will carry out] to support our order intake for the years to come,” Engel said.

While Vestas is the clear leader in onshore wind turbines, it has not been as focused on offshore wind. Perhaps this is changing now.

But Engel was very clear that he sees onshore wind as where the most wind energy will be for quite awhile at least. While there is a lot of speculation about offshore wind energy growth, he noted that “some of the numbers people have been bouncing around in offshore were simply too much rhetoric and too little reality.”

Concerning the US’ new offshore wind energy policies and push, he seemed quite supportive but again emphasized the onshore wind energy potential we have. “Anybody who says they want to build more wind capacity is always positive news, specifically in the United States where they have some of the best onshore resources in the world,” he said. “So I still believe that there might be offshore in the United States but the majority of the wind there is going to be onshore.”

Photo Credit: hddod

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Tags: Energy, Europe, London, US, Vestas

About the Author

Zachary Shahan spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as the director/chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media. You can connect with Zach on any popular social networking site you like. Links to all of his main social media profiles are on ZacharyShahan.com.

Anonymous

thanks for the update
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Morgan Troedsson

Great news from the market leader for wind turbines. Being a bit conservative in the necessary evolution of new designs, Vestas is taking their inherent design philosophy further, step by step.
Vestas was indeed the first player taking serious investments in wild offshore installations (Horn Ref 1) and collected unique and exclusive feedback from the harsh environment offshore.
This experience is today transcribed into the expected new generation of huge reliable offshore turbine technology.
Competition is always fighting for their position. In offshore applications REpower Systems has been the most successful one. In advanced turbine technology the Enercon machines are the unsurpassed and unrivaled leader. Siemens Wind Power is constantly developing their foot-print offshore, still missing lots of offshore experience. Marketing and sales are most successful, but suffering from slow production rate. Deliveries does not cope with their demand. Changes may come.
http://jaybanks.ca Jay Banks

It has really very futuristic look… Hopefully it will help to set up more wind farms in the North America based on onshore or even offshore. Maybe this technology can persuade Ontario´s government (CA) to start again to support the idea of wind turbines.
Ferry BS

Giant Wind Turbine!
- http://www.zacharyshahan.com Zachary Shahan
  
  seriously
  - Rich
    
    Looks like an Enercon turbine
    - http://www.zacharyshahan.com Zachary Shahan
      
      The photo is not the Vestas turbine discusses in the article (which the article points out, hasn’t been unveiled)
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