Vestas Unveils New 15MW Offshore Wind Turbine as Tall as the Golden Gate Bridge

By William Mathis (Bloomberg) —

Vestas Wind Systems A/S will start selling the world’s biggest offshore wind turbine, standing taller than the highest point of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The giant machine, that’ll come into use by 2024, will compete with the skyscraper-sized turbines already on sale by its competitors. The industry is racing to produce increasingly larger machines that generate wind power more efficiently and at a lower cost.

Vestas’s new turbine will be 15 megawatts. That matches the potential capacity of Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA, while General Electric Co’s Haliade-X machine has a capacity of 14 megawatts. Both stand hundreds of feet tall.

Vestas expects to install a prototype of the new machine next year. Mass production will happen by 2024, the company said in a statement.

Each blade on the turbine will measure 115.5 meters (379 feet) long, giving it a total height of 261 meters. That’s bigger than the 108 meter-long blades on Siemens Gamesa’s machine, which previously held the record. Vestas said each turbine could generate enough power for 20,000 households a year.

© 2021 Bloomberg L.P.

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