V164 prototype blade. (Credit: Vestas / Rick Tomlinson)Vestas has produced the first prototype 80 meter (approx. 262 ft) blade for the V164-8.0 MW—the world’s most powerful wind turbine for offshore installation—at the R&D center on the Isle of Wight, UK. The blade will now undergo an extensive testing regime to ensure total reliability.
The 80 meter blade is the longest ever produced by Vestas and uses the structural shell design, a proven concept in which the loads of the blade are carried in the shell, rather than using a spar at the center of the blade.
The length of the blade is the equivalent of nine double decker London buses and the swept area of the rotor will be 21,124 m2, larger than the London Eye.
In order to validate the strength and reliability of the blade it will be tested to its limits for six months, reproducing the challenging wind conditions of the North Sea over a simulated 25 year lifetime.
Chief Technology Officer Anders Vedel explains the tests will provide certainty to customers looking to make large investments in offshore wind.
“Test and verification of the blade is a critical stage of the development of the V164-8.0 MW,” he says. “Moving as much of the verification process as possible into our state of the art test center ensures the blade, the bearing and other components perform to the high standards our customers expect.”
The V164-8.0 MW prototype will be installed in the first quarter of 2014 at the Danish national testing center in Østerild.
