Wind OEM Vestas plans to erect the world’s tallest-ever all-steel turbines at the under-development Viinamäki project in Finland, as part of an R&D initiative with developer TuuliWatti to trial a new ‘cable-stayed’ tower concept.

The 21MW wind farm will feature five V150-4.2MW machines fitted to 175-metre-tall guy-wire-supported towers. The ten-year testing programme is seen as playing “a vital role” in the product certification of a concept that will help “efficiently unlock greater wind potential at higher hub heights while easing logistic constraints”.

“With the R&D collaboration on the Viinamäki project we are taking our already excellent and longstanding relationship with TuuliWatti to a whole new level,” says Nils de Baar, president of Vestas’ Northern and Central Europe business unit.

“Onshore wind is already one of the most competitive power generation sources and Viinamäki shows how innovations across the entire value chain enable Vestas to offer sustainable energy solutions that increase customer value.”

The contract with TuuliWatti encompasses supply, installation and commissioning of the wind turbines, as well as an Active Output Management 5000 service agreement beyond 25 years.

Delivery of the V150s is slated to begin in the second quarter of 2019.