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A few years in the past after I visited the big wind turbine check website at Østerild in northern Denmark, I questioned how huge these items would find yourself being. It appears the effectivity restrict is about to be inside attain, and whereas this will not be the case in technical phrases, it simply is perhaps in manufacturing, logistical, and financial phrases.

Two Main Wins For Vestas

This week Vestas introduced two main orders in Germany and Lithuania. The press launch for the German order states that Vestas will ship, fee, and repair eight V162-5.6 MW wind generators. They’re about the identical dimension as those I noticed examined at Østerild. Sulai Fahimi, Vestas Vice President of Gross sales Central Europe, states: “We’re more than happy to have been chosen to produce our onshore generators for the Dollenkamp challenge because it highlights the significance of onshore wind within the German vitality transition.”

The press launch for the Lithuanian order states that Vestas will ship, fee, and repair 14 of the marginally extra highly effective V162-6.2 MW wind generators. The 2 orders signify a mixed capability of 152 MW. Jens Pinderup, Vice President of Gross sales East at Vestas NCE, states: “Your complete space gives enormous potential for wind vitality tasks, and we’re proud that our EnVentus wind generators gives a aggressive answer for our prospects whereas serving to to decarbonise the vitality system within the Baltic area.”

Is Greater At all times Higher?

These Vestas V162 generators with a rotor diameter of 162 meters (531 ft) is likely one of the larger fashions in Vestas’ onshore catalog, solely barely smaller than the V172 which is best suited to decrease common wind speeds. Nonetheless, these machines appear dwarfed by the 15 MW monster Vestas gives offshore, the V236. So, will onshore generators ultimately be as huge as offshore generators?

A piece in dr.dk has some fascinating views on the topic. The wind turbine business says the world wants extra — not larger — generators. Deputy Director of Vestas Morten Dyrholm states: “We now have reached some extent the place we should take a break within the improvement of bigger generators. We should always not hold sending larger and greater generators onto the market. There’s a have to mass produce and standardize.”

Based on Sydbank Denmark, the wind turbine business must get again to earning money quick. Right here is its record of how a lot the large gamers misplaced in 2023:

• Siemens Gamesa: 385 billion DKK ($56.92 billion)
• Common Electrical: 37 billion DKK ($5.47 billion)
• Nordex: 10 billion DKK ($1.48 billion)
• Vestas: Expects no loss/acquire, however misplaced 11.7 billion DKK ($1.73 billion) in 2022

Fairness evaluation supervisor Jacob Pedersen from Sydbank states: “There isn’t a doubt that if the wind turbine producers are to get again on observe, in order that they’ll put money into extra manufacturing services, in order that we will get extra wind generators — then it additionally requires that this arms race with consistently making larger wind generators involves an finish.”

Henrik Stiesdal, one of many pioneers within the Danish wind turbine journey, former head of improvement at Bonus Vitality and former technical director at Siemens Wind Energy, proposes that EU laws ought to assist the business to restrict the peak of wind generators. Particularly, Henrik Stiesdal proposes a most peak of roughly 300 metres (984 ft). “The authorities must say that there’s an higher restrict: make them cheaper and extra environment friendly, however don’t make them increased than a sure dimension,” he says.

On the business group Inexperienced Energy Denmark, deputy managing director Jan Hylleberg has sympathy for the proposal. However he doubts that’s practical. “I discover it tough to see how [this proposal] may perform in a sector as world as this,” he says.