The overnight operation saw a team of 12 fix the 80m blades tothe flagship V164-8.0 machine at a rate of one every three hours.

“[We] took advantage of achange in wind conditions overnight to install all three blades ... betweenapproximately 2000 January 13 and 0730 January 14,” says the company. “Theprocess was smooth.”

The 35-tonne blades, which are based on “structural shell” technology in whichthe wind loads are borne by the outer surface of the blade rather than innerspar supports, were manufactured at the Vestas R&D centre on theUK’s Isle of Wight.

The