Azimut project aims to develop world’s largest capacity wind turbine
Currently, the world’s largest capacity wind turbine is the Enercon E-126, which has a rated capacity of 7.58 MW. It has held that honor since its introduction in 2007, but is under threat of losing the title with a number of 10 MW turbines currently in development – including what was destined to be the world’s biggest wind turbine to be built in Norway. Now a Spanish project has upped the ante with its aim of building an offshore wind turbine with a capacity of 15 MW.
The Azimut project will see eleven Spanish companies and no less than 22 research centers joining forces with the aim of generating the know-how required to develop a large-scale marine wind turbine using 100 percent Spanish technology. This includes overcoming the challenges of constructing offshore wind turbine foundations, energy delivery to land, and narrowing the gap between the cost of offshore and onshore wind energy sites.
If these hurdles can be addressed, the plan is to then construct a large-scale offshore wind turbine with a capacity of 15 MW by 2020. The initial stage of the project, which is set to wind up in 2013, will cost 25 million euro (over US$33 million) over the four years.