World?s Most Powerful Wind Turbine Installed

The world’s most powerful single turbine was successfully installed at Vattenfall’s European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) in Scotland on Monday.

The turbine is the first of 11 to be deployed at the demonstration facility in Aberdeen Bay that features internal power modes that help generate more energy - from 8.4MW to 8.8MW.

Together with the nine 8.4MW turbines, this substantially boosts the EOWDC’s output to 93.2MW. The facility now produces the equivalent of more than 70 percent of Aberdeen’s domestic electricity demand and annually displace 134,128 tons of CO2.

MHI Vestas has specially designed the V164-8.4MW and V164-8.8MW turbines which all have a tip height of 191 meters. Each blade is 80 meters long,  and the 164 meter rotor has a circumference larger than that of the London Eye’s.

The turbines are being transported from Esbjerg, Denmark, to Aberdeen by Swire Blue Ocean’s vessel, the Pacific Orca, where they will be lifted into position on the installed foundations. The Pacific Orca is believed to be the world’s largest wind farm installation vessel.
 
Two weeks ago the first of the EOWDC’s suction bucket jacket foundations was successfully installed. The EOWDC is the first offshore wind project to deploy the foundations at commercial scale and pairing them with the world’s most powerful turbines represents another industry first.