MHI Vestas offshore wind turbine achieves 10 MW power rating

MHI Vestas Offshore Wind (Aarhus, Denmark) on Sept. 25 announced that its V164 turbine platform has now achieved a power rating of 10 MW making it the first commercially available double-digit wind turbine.

“What was unreachable before has become the new benchmark,” says MHI Vestas CEO, Philippe Kavafyan. “In launching the V164-10.0 MW today, MHI Vestas is proud to contribute this major milestone to the offshore wind industry. And it gives us the opportunity to pay tribute to all the wind industry pioneers who have led us to this historic, double-digit nominal capacity.”

The barrier-breaking model is built on proven technology and lessons learned from previous installations of the V164 platform. With more than 100 V164 turbines already installed in the UK and Germany, MHI Vestas was able to leverage technological learnings and incremental innovations to push the boundaries of its platform from 8 MW to 10 MW.

The V164-10.0 MW incorporates a stronger gearbox, some minor mechanical upgrades, and a small design change to enhance air flow and increase cooling in the converter. According to MHI Vestas, the upgrades ensure that the V164-10.0 MW can run at full power, at a site with wind speeds of 10 m per second, for 25 years.