Offshore wind energy is gaining momentum. As I wrote yesterday here on Cleantechnica, the U.S. is finally looking to move forward fast on this promising clean energy source and the nation’s first offshore wind farm is finally on its way to being built. Just a couple month ago, I wrote about the opening of the largest offshore wind farm in the world, built in the UK. But since then, China has started construction on an even larger wind farm and South Korea has announced it is planning a massive offshore wind farm that will be even two-and-a-half times larger than that one.
Nonetheless, despite the great potential offshore, it can be a very harsh environment out there. To address certain technical and financial troubles associated with offshore wind development, Spanish turbine manufacturer Gamesa has announced it is leading a project to build a 15MW wind turbine. The project team will include 11 more wind and engineering firms and 22 research centers as well. It will use 100% Spanish technology.
The project is being called Azimut and is expected to require €25 million ($33.3 million) of investment over the coming four years. The participating companies will co-finance the project.
Other than Gamesa, main partners will be Alstom Wind, Acciona Windpower, Iberdrola Renovables and Acciona Energía.
Gamesa will head activities related to offshore wind energy capture, Acciona Windpower will be responsible for electricity conversion technologies; Alstom Wind will manage the marine structure and substructure segment; Acciona Energía will head construction, operation and maintenance at offshore sites; with Iberdrola Renovables managing the integration of offshore wind energy into the electricity grid.
Looks like a superhero squad of wind energy and engineering firms. Looking forward to seeing the behemoth wind turbine they create.
Related Story: New Floating Wind Turbines to Make Wind Energy Cheaper, More Reliable?
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Photo Credit: hddod via flickr (CC license)
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