DYNA JOURNAL ENGINEERING

But it was Danish construction company VESTAS that officially presented its V236 project for offshore installation with a 15 MW rated power wind turbine, which has a sweep area greater than 43,000 m2 which allows it to transform more than 60% of the wind energy affecting that area. With that turbine, GE and Siemens-Gamesa (SGRE) machines that claim to reach 14 MW are currently exceeded. The blades of the V236 are 115.5 m long, 7.5 m longer than the larger ones of SGRE and 8.5 m more than GE's Haliade-X, and its end, once mounted on the tower, reaches 261 m in height.

The economy that this machine can assume is seen, especially when addressing large offshore park projects. For example, for a 900 MW park, addressing this machine that incorporates more power and better performance compared to the 9.5 MW model of the same company means increasing the generation by 5% with 34 turbines less. Operating life is estimated to be longer than 25 years and withstand winds up to 50 or 60 m/s.

A prototype of this turbine could be in operation by 2022, to address mass production starting in 2024. The question of who and when the 20 MW wind turbine can offer and whether this will be the limit for this type of generator remains in the air.