Offshore A growth T
experience
As offshore wind turbines grow larger and larger, challenges arise over their installation. The ever-increasing turbine size is on track to eclipse the ability of wind turbine installation vessels to transport them out to sea by 2024, according to recent predictions. Nicholas Kenny hears from Martin Lysne, senior analyst for rigs and vessels at Rystad Energy, about the ramifications this could have for the industry and the work being done to address the issue.
he very first offshore wind farm, just off the coast of Vindeby in Denmark, was commissioned in the far off days of 1991. Its 11 turbines together produced a mere 5MWh annually. In the past decade or so, the average power capacity of an offshore wind turbine has risen from 3MW in 2010 to 6.5MW in 2022, and we’re already starting to see offshore turbines in development that will be able to produce over 15MW on their own.
This growth in power production is due to a number of factors – improved engineering, better materials and so on – but the largest contributor is the size at which these turbines are now constructed. The turbines at Vindeby had a blade length of 17m and a total height of 54m. By contrast, Vestas’ V236- 15.0 MW – 64 of which are set to be installed at the He Dreight offshore wind project in Germany in 2025 – has a blade length of 115.5m and a total height of up to 280m.
14
World Wind Technology /
www.worldwind-technology.com
Stephen Dewhurst/
Shutterstock.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45