Five new Vestas units survive hurricane and go on-line

The turbines for France's latest wind farm, Plouarzel, near Brest in Brittany were erected just in time to be baptised by the great storm that hit northern France and much of northern Europe on October 30. The five Vestas V47-660 kW units, built in Spain by Gamesa Eolica, survived wind speeds of up to 150 kilometres an hour. The wind farm came into operation the following day, bringing France's installed wind capacity to around 60 MW, just 0.6% of the European total. France is likely to have an installed capacity of 70-80 MW by the end of the year.