Features

Windpower Monthly takes an in-depth look at the issues and topics driving the industry, along with interviews with senior wind professionals.

Field testing of Vestas' cable-stayed rotor system, based on a standard Vestas V136-4.2 MW turbine with a 112-metre hub height, is to run from May 2023 to Q4 next year

Top Story

Exclusive: Vestas’ cable-stayed rotor achieves ‘technology leap’

24 May 2023 by Eize de Vries

The innovative Vestas cable-stayed rotor technology is a novel solution capable of enabling substantial load reductions, rotor modularisation and industry scalability. Eize de Vries explores the benefits and challenges.

General features

Why science matters when it comes to wind power

On my radar with Eize de Vries column pic

Analysis: Vietnam must solve challenges to hit ‘very ambitious’ 2030 wind targets

Vietnam currently has 3.1GW of operational onshore wind capacity, according to Windpower Intelligence, the research and data division of Windpower Monthly (pic credit: Quang Ngoc Nguyen/Getty Images)

On my radar with Eize de Vries: Wind power does not need greenwashing

"CO2-free" would mean the end of life on earth (DrPixel/Getty Images)

How the turmoil in energy markets has changed perspectives on renewables

annual cost report header (pic credit: Getty Images)

New regular column: ‘On my radar’ with Eize de Vries

Eize de Vries

Analysis: Italy looks to offshore wind for growth

Italy's first offshore wind farm came online earlier this year (pic credit: Renexia )

Does hydrogen hold the key to a green future?

Hydrogen feature button

Paying for net zero: a matter of perspective

cost of wind analysis button

Can the OEMs find their way back to financial health?

OEM special report header

Wind power buildout versus biodiversity – a question of priorities?

special biodiversity report header

The make or break point for offshore wind

offshore grids special report

Analysis: How to build out wind fast at a good price for all

Ørsted was the first developer to commit to building an offshore wind farm for less than €100/MWh when its €72.70/MWh bid won the competitive tender for the Borssele 1 & 2 project off the Netherlands in 2016 (pic credit: SGRE)

How easy is it to hack a wind turbine?

Cyber attacks have become far more sophisticated since a research team physically broke in and hacked a wind turbine using a cheap Raspberry Pi computer (pic credit: Samuli Siivinen/Alamy Stock Photo)

Why repowering is key to wind power industry’s growth

Repowering of the Morbach wind farm in Germany was completed last year, replacing 14 Vestas 1.65MW turbines with 7 Enercon 4.2MW units (pic: wiwi consult)

Technology

Exclusive: Modvion 105-metre wooden wind turbine tower takes shape

Modvion installed a scaled 30m prototype wooden tower on Sweden’s west coast in 2020. It plans to install a 105m demonstrator this year

Large-scale nacelle test rig to boost South Korean wind know-how

Renk 15MW test rig at Clemson University

Demand for main bearing units reflects industry desire to reduce complexity

Eize de Vries (left) talks to the Thyssenkrupp Rothe Erde team at the company's Lippstadt manufacturing and testing site

Multi-rotor research shows potential to slash system mass and cost

Scaled X-Multirotor model displayed at WindEnergy Hamburg (pic credit: Kristian Panzer)

Exclusive: Eize de Vries reviews NGC's leap in torque density for 18MW powertrain

NGC is now focusing on medium-speed drivetrains, including this 13.5-15.0MW gearbox, which many OEM’s prefer to high-speed systems for large offshore turbine. Note the (horizontal) gearbox side torque support

Exclusive analysis: Eize de Vries reviews 'gamechanging' bottom-fixed substructure solution

A fully assembled gravity tripod for a 14-16MW-plus class turbine will weigh around 7,500-8,500 tonnes

Vestas’ EnVentus V172-7.2 MW drives scalability through advanced modularity

The V172 features one of the largest onshore rotor diameters offered by a western turbine manufacturer

Exclusive: Inside the Vestas V236-15.0 MW - a huge leap in technology

The V236-15.0 MW prototype is due to be installed in November

Exclusive: Enercon unveils 6MW turbine with 175m rotor

Enercon will try to fill gaps in the market with its 6.0MW EP5 model, featuring 86m blades (Pic credit: Enercon)

Analysis: Nordex takes evolutionary step in Delta4000 series with rotor-size leap

The Nordex N175/6.X likely sets a new record for onshore rotor-size (Pic credit: Nordex)

Winergy insights: ‘Giants of the sea, the next ten years’

Winergy's ThinkBig! 40MNm powertrain (pic credit: Winergy)

Exclusive: Dongfang’s 16MW new offshore wind turbine sets new rotor size record

Dongfang's 16MW offshore turbine will be the industry's largest

Exclusive: WEG launches 7MW turbine platform for global onshore wind markets

WEG switched to a medium speed geared design for its AGW172/7.X platform to reduce LCoE

Wind turbine towers: is it time to ditch steel for prefab concrete?

HWS’s integrated technology solution features a pre-cast concrete AirBase foundation, a self-climbing AirCrane and the AirTower

How can automated blade coating meet industry, quality and volume demands?

Tebulo is developing this automated solution using rollers in parallel to pursuing a precision spray painting option at the request of turbine and blade manufacturers

Exclusive analysis: the Vestas V236-15.0 MW powertrain

Vestas EnVentus and V236-15.0 MW powertrain interface ring elements; the largest ring connects the main bearing unit and gearbox of the V236 powertrain

Vestas V163-4.5 MW: Building on the 4MW platform success

The V163-4.5 MW model is aimed at medium and low wind speed sites

New milestone in the evolution of Enercon

Enercon is installing its first commercial 5.56MW E-160 EP5 E3 turbine with E-nacelle at a wind farm in Lower-Saxony

Tip rotors can harvest more energy from smaller turbines

illustration of the DTU tip rotor concept - cropped

Exclusive: How SGRE made its blades fully recyclable

SGRE's new resin system for recyclable blades is well suited for very long blades

Interviews

Why IRA changed everything: Windpower Monthly talks to GE onshore chief Vic Abate

GE is now focused on fewer products and core customers, in core markets says Vic Abate

Enercon CEO Jürgen Zeschky discusses the hurdles facing the wind industry

Jürgen Zeschky: "We need this ‘whatever it takes’ moment to speed up the permitting and realisation process for onshore wind.”

Interview: 15 minutes with Vestas development chief Thomas Alsbjerg

Thomas Alsbjerg heads up Vestas’ digital solutions and project solutions unit. It raised the business areas to executive level earlier this year

Interview: 15 Minutes with Corio Generation CEO Jonathan Cole

Corio Generation CEO Jonathan Cole

Interview: TetraSpar pioneer Henrik Stiesdal

Henrik Stiesdal, founder of Stiesdal Offshore Technologies and chairman of the board of directors of the TetraSpar Demonstrator project company

Interview: Siemens Gamesa's Juan Gutierrez

Juan Gutierrez, CEO of Siemens Gamea's service business

Exclusive interview: GWEC chief Ben Backwell

GWEC chief executive Ben Backwell

Interview with WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson

WindEconomics

WindEconomics: Will wind face more competition from nuclear?

Finland is also building a ‘permanent disposal site for high-level nuclear waste' on Olkiluoto, where spent material will be buried more than 400m below ground for 100,000 years (pic credit: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images)

How the UK could move towards net zero with 100% renewables

The UK could source all its electricity from renewable sources by 2050, report argues (pic credit: Matthew Horwood/Getty Images)

US offshore wind accelerates to reach 30GW by 2031

The 30MW Block Island wind farm, off Rhode Island, was the first commercial offshore wind farm in the US when it began operations in December 2016 (pic credit: John Moore/Getty Images)

WindEconomics: Can small nuclear compete with wind power on cost?

The demonstration ACP100 small modular reactor at the Changjiang nuclear power plant in China is under construction (pic credit: Luo Yunfei/China News Service via Getty Images)

WindEconomics: Time to rethink electricity pricing?

Electricity prices are closely tied to the price of gas in many countries, even though wind and solar generation could save consumers money (pic credit: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Cost parity and storage likely to push solar capacity ahead of wind

Solar projects in the US are increasingly linked with storage (pic credit: Dennis Schroeder/NREL)

Installed costs for onshore wind continue to fall despite rising turbine prices

The levelised cost of energy for wind in the US has roughly halved since 2013, thanks to lower installation and maintenance costs (pic credit: Brad King/Renew Energy Maintenance)

Cost reductions for wind and solar may have peaked

South Korea, which has 133MW of online offshore capacity, was the most expensive for installed costs, Irena found (pic credit: KF Wind)

WindEconomics: Solar likely to beat wind on price by 2025

Both wind and solar need massive buildouts acorss the globe to reach net zero targets (pic credit: GE Renewable Energy)

Why repowering is key to the energy transition

Repowering more than doubled the capacity of UK's first commercial wind farm (pic credit: Good Energy)

Why wind turbines are more reliable than wind

Commissioned in 1995, Tunø Knob is the oldest operational Danish offshore wind farm (pic credit: Vestas)

Wind energy is already saving UK consumers money

Innogy’s 26.7MW Bad á Cheó wind farm in Scotland secured a contract for difference in the 2015 auction

Can Australia wean itself off coal and embrace renewables?

RES is developing the 209MW second phase of the Terra Murra wind farm in Victoria. The 226MW first stage came online in 2020

Why transition to net zero could deliver cost savings

According to the IEA, installed costs for wind projects fall by 20% with each doubling of production (pic credit: Nordex)

How COP26 outcome could affect wind growth to 2050

Wind and solar generation will continue to grow as the world tries to cut emissions (pic: ArcVera Renewables)

How outdated grids push down the value of wind

Network congestion and curtailment can push down the value of wind and solar generation (pic: Duke Energy/Roger Ball)

WindEconomics: Why we need 236GW of wind power a year

WindEconomics: Cost of wind falling faster than predicted

WindEconomics: Hydrogen production uses ‘surplus’ wind

WindEconomics: The fall and fall of wind and solar costs