As offshore wind developers begin to wade out off Asia, “typhoon-proof” has rapidly entered Western OEMs’ lexicon. And with good reason: gales regularly blow through the region at speeds of more than 118km/h — and a super storm can bring gusts of over 300km/h — beyond the engineered limits of a conventional turbine design.
The machines installed off China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and the area’s other prospective markets will need to be battle-ready and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE), MHI Vestas and GE Renewables have all already announced that “T” – ie, typhoon — class versions of their machines are on the way.
