More likely that offshore wind turbine will have a maximum capacity of 15MW by 2020

As of 2014, the maximum capacity of an offshore wind turbine is 7.5MW (Enercon E-126 7.5MW).

In my view, the finalisation of the 4-year Azimut project in Spain which aims at enabling the development of a 15 MW offshore wind turbine by 2010 has brought good news to the offshore wind energy market. 

Below is an excerpt of the press release by Gamesa.

Ending of the Azimut project that will enable the development of a 15 MW offshore wind turbine in 2020 

• The Azimut Project has finalized successfully with important progress in technological advances, new materials, simulation tools and a web application.
• Eleven Spanish companies and 22 research centers, coordinated by Gamesa, have joined forces on the Azimut Project to enable the development of world’s largest capacity wind turbine by 2020.

Barcelona, 12 March 2014. The Azimut project, which aims to enable the development of world’s largest capacity wind turbine by 2020, has successfully completed their applied research activities undertaken during the last 4 years. The project has reached the objective of generating knowledge as well as key technologies that will enable the development of a turbine with unit capacity of 15 MW. This turbine will be capable of overcoming the technical and financial hurdles currently limiting the rollout of offshore wind energy, such as availability and cost of energy.

The initiative brings together 11 companies, coordinated by Gamesa, which include Acciona Windpower, Alstom Wind, Acciona Energía, Iberdrola Renovables, Ingeteam, Imatia, Ingeciber, Digsilent Iberica, Técnicas Reunidas, and Tecnitest.

With a 30.3 million euro budget spanning its 4-year duration, this project, under the CENIT program of the CDTI, depending of the Spanish Ministry of Economy, has allowed Spanish industry to fetch technology leadership positions in wind energy generation in marine environments, and helping European countries to comply with the target set by the European Commission of 27% of energy consumption from renewable sources by 2030.

Upon its completion in December 2013, the different companies have obtained important results in key areas mainly developing new technologies, testing process and models, and creating a new web application.

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