Masato Yamada, chief strategy officer at MHI/Vestas, told Windpower Monthly that MHI's experience in wind, as well as other fields such as aerospace, would be used to hone the new 8MW turbine.
"We have discussed how to improve the V164 and also, if some trouble with the turbine occurs, how we can deal with that. This is our contribution in the technology field," he said when interviewed on Windpower TV.
Talking about the need to meet the UK government's expectations that those winning contracts in the country should create domestic jobs, he also indicated that the joint venture is not ready to commit to building a factory in the UK yet.
"We need a very significant amount of order intake to build the supply chain," he said.
MHI and Vestas finally came into being in April after protracted negotiations that lasted for more than a year.
The deal sees MHI invest EUR 300 million, with EUR 100 million up front and the remainder dependent on the V164 hitting certain milestones.
In return, Vestas has made its V164-8.0 MW, its V112-3.3MW offshore order book, existing offshore service contracts and around 300 employees part of the joint venture.
