Vestas Develops Replacement for Damaged Offshore Wind Turbines

Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems AS is developing a new offshore wind turbine model following recent gear box problems at several of its currently operating turbines, Swedish magazine Ny Teknik said.

'We are working with a completely new model of the big offshore turbine V90 3 MW, but the details of the work are secret,' said Vestas spokesperson Peter Wenzel Kruse.

At the same time, Vestas and Swedish subcontractor SKF AB are trying to determine the causes of the damage to gear boxes, which recently induced the Danish group to stop sales of the V90 3 MW windmill for offshore installations.

The two companies are currently unsure of the reasons for the accidents, but Peter Wenzel Kruse said gear boxes are a problem for the entire wind power industry, because strains on the boxes increase as ever bigger windmills are built.

Orjan Hedblom of the Swedish Windpower Organisation has previously said the damage can be attributed to the bearings delivered by SKF being too thin to withstand the strain, but the Swedish group has refuted these allegations, Ny Teknik said.