Vestas unveils 15-MW offshore wind turbine with 115.5-meter-long blades

Vestas (Aarhus, Denmark) continues on its path toward offshore wind innovation with the introduction of the V236-15.0-megawatt (MW) turbine. With the industry’s largest swept area exceeding 43,000 square meters and a capacity factor of over 60%, the new technology will reportedly establish a strong foundation for Vestas’ offshore leadership journey by elevating the industry benchmark for performance and continued cost reduction.

The new turbine’s 15-MW reach also matches the potential capacity of Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA (SGRE, Zamudio, Spain) wind turbines, and surpasses General Electric Co’s (Boston, Mass., U.S.) Haliade-X machine, which retains a capacity of 14 MW. Each blade on the V236-15.0 MW measures 115.5 meters (379 feet) long, giving it a total height of 261 meters, a blade reportedly longer than the 108-meter-long blades on Siemens Gamesa’s SG 14-222 DD direct drive turbine, which previously held the record. Vestas says each turbine could generate enough power for 20,000 households a year, improve wind energy production to around 80 gigwatt-hours per year and save more than 38,000 tonnes of CO_2.

“Introducing our new offshore platform is a huge achievement for everyone at Vestas, as it marks a big leap forward in a very important journey,” says Henrik Andersen, president and CEO of Vestas. “As a global renewables leader, every decision Vestas takes today must be in service of building scale for renewables in the future — only by doing this can we ensure a more sustainable future energy system. Offshore wind will play an integral role in the growth of wind energy and the V236-15.0 MW will be a driver in this development by lowering levelized cost of energy, thus making our customers more competitive in offshore tenders going forward.”

To continue Vestas’ ongoing effort to elevate industry standards, the V236-15.0 MW will delivers leading park performance for all customers and harnesses Vestas’ world-class service and safety record. The new turbine also comes with a design lifetime of 25 years or more depending on site conditions. V236-15.0 offers 65% higher annual energy production than the V174-9.5 MW, and for a 900-MW wind park it boosts production by 5%, with 34 fewer turbines. 

The first V236-15.0 MW prototype is expected to be installed in 2022, with serial production scheduled for 2024.