The world’s most powerful wind turbine has been successfully installed in Aberdeen Bay, providing another first for the record-breaking European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC).
Developer Vattenfall announced it yesterday completed the installation of the first of 11 turbines at the site. It also confirmed the new turbine from manufacturer MHI Vestas is one of two that has been enhanced with new internal power modes. As a result the capacity of the two turbines has been increase from 8.4MW to 8.8MW, making it the largest turbine to be deployed commercially by the global offshore wind industry.
Vattenfall said the upgrade to the two turbines alongside the plans to install nine 8.4MW models will take the EOWDC’s capacity to 93.2MW, enough capacity to meet more than 70 per cent of Aberdeen’s domestic electricity demand and annually displace 134,128 tonnes of CO2.
The milestone comes less than two weeks after Vattenfall confirmed it had completed the installation of the first suction bucket jacket foundations at the site – another industry-first that the company claims will help bring down the cost of offshore wind power.
“The turbines for the EOWDC, Scotland’s largest offshore wind test and demonstration facility, help secure Vattenfall’s vision to be fossil fuel free within one generation,” said Gunnar Groebler, Vattenfall’s Head of Business Area Wind. “The EOWDC, through its innovative approach to cost reduction and pioneering technologies, leads the industry drive towards generating clean and competitive wind energy power – one that will reinforce Scotland’s global energy status.”
The news was also welcomed by Gina Hanrahan, acting head of policy at WWF Scotland, who said it further underlined the country’s position as renewables hub.
“The installation of the first of these powerful turbines at Aberdeen Bay is another milestone in Scotland’s renewables story,” she said. “Offshore wind, which has halved in cost in recent years, is critical in the fight against climate change, helping to reduce emissions, keep the lights on and create thousands of jobs across the Scotland and the UK. Developments like this have an important role to play in securing the Scottish Government’s target to meet half of all Scotland’s energy demand from renewables by 2030.”
The announcement comes just a day after new figures revealed power output from Scotland’s onshore wind farms rose 44 per cent year-on-year during the first quarter of the year.
Source: businessgreen.com
