Danish wind giant Vestas has launched a 15MW offshore turbine in a bid to catch up with rivals GE and Siemens Gamesa in the race to dominate the market for super-sized machines.

After the full acquisition of former offshore joint venture MHI Vestas, the OEM says the new V236-15.0MW machine, due in production from 2024, is the next step to make it highly competitive in offshore tenders as soon as this year.

“Introducing our new offshore platform is a huge achievement for everyone at Vestas, as it marks a big leap forward in a very important journey,” chief executive Henrik Andersen said.

“Offshore wind will play an integral role in the growth of wind energy and the V236-15.0 MW will be a driver in this development by lowering levelised cost of energy thus making our customers more competitive in offshore tenders going forward.”

Vestas, the global leader onshore, in recent years has trailed GE and Siemens Gamesa in offshore wind orders, with both OEMs already offering giant turbines in the global market, with top power ratings of up to 14MW and 15MW respectively.

Vestas said its new offshore turbine is harnessing the optimum design synergies from existing turbine platforms by the manufacturer, such as its 9MW offshore and the EnVentus onshore platforms, and expanding the industrialisation of turbine design through a modular approach to scale components.

Power for 20,000 homes

The new machine will have the world’s largest swept area exceeding 43,000 square metres and the industry’s largest rotor, to produce around 80 gigawatt hours per year, enough to power 20,000 European households by itself.

“With the V236-15.0MW, we raise the bar in terms of technological innovation and industrialisation in the wind energy industry, in favour of building scale,” Vestas chief technology officer Anders Nielsen said.

“By leveraging Vestas’ extensive proven technology, the new platform combines innovation with certainty to offer industry-leading performance while reaping the benefits of building on the supply chain of our entire product portfolio.”

Nielsen added the new offshore platform also forms a solid foundation for future upgrades.

The new machine offers a 65% percent higher annual energy yield than the V174-9.5 MW, and for a 900MW wind park it boosts production by five percent with 34 fewer turbines, Vestas said.

It also offers excellent partial-load production, resulting in a more stable energy production, and a capacity factor over 60% depending on site-specific conditions.

The first V236-15.0MW prototype is expected to be installed in 2022, while serial production is scheduled for 2024.

2020 operating profit down

Vestas also reported its 2020 financial results that showed rising revenues, but a diminished operational profit.

Revenue rose to €14.8bn ($17.95bn) in 2020, from €12.1bn in 2019, driven by sales in the Americas region.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) before special items, meanwhile, fell to €1.39bn from €1.55bn a year earlier, in part due to logistical challenges and supply-chain bottlenecks, amplified by the Covid-19 pandemic.

"In 2020, Vestas continued to play a key role in the fight against climate crisis, and we met our revised guidance on all parameters, leading the industry on revenue, order intake, and profitability despite Covid-19 affecting all parts of our value chain," chief executive Henrik Andersen said.

"In this environment, we achieved more than 17GW of deliveries and bolstered our total order backlog to an all-time high of €43bn through strong order intake, service growth, and the re-integration of offshore wind."

Net profit for the whole company went up to €771m last year, from €700m a year earlier, due to the effect of incorporating all of the previous MHI Vestas joint venture into the parent company.

"You have the reevaluation of our 50% stake in MHI Vestas. And that is obviously a gain for us and that impacts the overall net profit," chief financial officer Marika Fredriksson told Recharge.

Seen separately, the offshore business posted a €92m loss in 2020.

For 2021, Vestas expects revenue to range between €16bn and €17bn, including service revenue, which is expected to grow by about 15%.

UPDATE to add 2020 financial results

Wind

Vestas launches 15MW offshore wind turbine with record-sized rotor