Anyone who still thinks wind power is just a load of hot air obviously hasn’t been paying attention. Witness the V164, a prototype wind turbine that Denmark’s MHI Vestas Offshore tested at Østerild at the close of 2016. With a rated power of 9 megawatts under optimum conditions, the V164 set a new energy-generation record by a single wind turbine in December by producing a staggering 216,000 kilowatt-hours over a 24-hour period.
And make no mistake, the V164 isn’t a glorified windmill. Standing nearly 722 feet tall, the V164 boasts with a sweep area of 227,377 square feet—or larger than the London Eye. Its 262-foot-long blades, the equivalent of nine London double-decker buses, weigh 77,160 pounds apiece.
The platform is part of MH Vestas Offshore’s “continued commitment to deliver affordable offshore wind power,” Torben Hvid Larsen, the firm’s chief technical officer, said in a statement.
“We are committed to delivering turbine technology that is in line with the development of our industry, based on our 20-plus years of offshore experience,” he said. “Reliability remains a key enabler, and our approach to developing our existing platform supports this strategy.”
With the new record secured, the prototype is poised to go to market. Built with the unforgiving North Sea environment in mind, V164 has an operational life span of about 25 years, after which 80 percent of it can be recycled.
“We believe that our wind turbine will play an integral part in enabling the offshore industry to continue to drive down the cost of energy,” Larsen added.
Source: inhabitat.com
