The two wind turbine makers Gamesa and Areva are partnering so they can generate 2.8 GW of wind power capacity. By forming a 50/50 joint venture, they are increasing their capacity in order to target 20% of the offshore wind power market in Europe by 2020.
43 GW or more may be the size of the offshore wind installed capacity for European and Asian countries by 2020. Joining forces could help Areva and Gamesa take advantage of this growth.
As a the Areva press release noted,
The joint venture will have two 5 MW platforms, which will allow the new company to address market requests with greater flexibility. It will work on the optimization of the AREVA’s M5000, as well as Gamesa’s 5.0 MW offshore turbines. The joint venture will also further develop its upcoming 8 MW platform, in order to continue to be a driving force in lowering the levelized cost of energy of offshore wind. The joint venture will benefit from the recently won 1 GW pipeline in France’s offshore round 2, where the 8 MW is set to be installed by 2021.
3 Distinct Wind Turbines
The following three turbines will be in the arsenal for the new joint offshore wind power giant.
- Areva 5 MW 70 meter mast, rotor diameter of 135 meters, 375 metric tons
- Areva 8 MW 90 meter mast, rotor diameter of 180 meters, 520 metric tons
- Gamesa 5 MW 80-94 meter mast, rotor diameter of 132 meters
(Areva wind turbines also have an air treatment system for filtering out corrosive particles.)
Gamesa
Before the venture, Gamesa was about the fourth largest wind turbine manufacturer in the world and the largest in Spain. The company constructs wind farms and wind turbines. It has already installed over 10,00 MW of wind power and has about another 20,000 Mw in development. Gamesa was founded in 1976.
Areva
Areva Wind was actually another company called Multibrid, which Areva purchased and renamed. Areva is one of the largest nuclear energy companies in the world but it has been branching out into wind with some solar too. Founded in 1958, it had just four engineers and was focused on nuclear engineering.
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