Renewable Energy
Long-term investors move into wind power
Advances in technology and a flurry of new projects are attracting serious investors into the wind energy market. Sean Ottewell reports.
Sean Ottewell informa que los avances en la tecnología y una gran cantidad de nuevos proyectos están atrayendo a nuevos inversores interesados en el mercado de energía eólica. Sean Ottewell reports.
Technologische Fortschritte und zahlreiche neue Projekte locken wichtige Investoren auf den Windenergiemarkt. Sean Ottewell berichtet.
V
estas has produced the first prototype 80 metre blade for the V164-8.0 MW - the world’s most powerful offshore wind turbine - at its R&D centre on the Isle
of Wight, UK. Te blade will now undergo an extensive testing regime to ensure total reliability. Te 80 metre blade is the longest ever
produced by the company and uses the structural shell design, a proven concept in which the loads of the blade are carried in the shell, rather than using a spar at the centre of the blade (Fig. 1). Te length of the blade is the equivalent of nine double decker London buses and the swept area of the rotor will be 21,124m2
.
In order to validate the strength and reliability of the blade it will be tested to its limits for six months, reproducing the challenging wind
conditions of the North Sea over a simulated 25 year lifetime.
Chief technology officer Anders Vedel says the tests will provide certainty to customers looking to make large investments in offshore wind: “Test and verification of the blade is a critical stage of the development of the V164-8.0MW. Moving as much of the verification process as possible into our state of the art test centre ensures the blade, the bearing and other components perform to the high standards our customers expect.”
Prototype installation Te V164-8.0MW prototype will be installed in the first quarter of 2014 at the Danish national testing centre in Østerild. In contract news, Vestas has received two
Fig. 1. The 80 metre blade is the longest ever produced by Vestas and uses the structural shell design.
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