Offshore Wind Technology and Status - Structural Integrity of Offshore Wind Turbines - page 29

TABLE 2-1 Commercial Offshore Wind Turbines

Number of

Rated Grid Rotor Turbines

Year Power Frequency Diameter Installed

Manufacturer Model Available (MW) (Hz) (m) Offshore a

AREVA Multibrid M5000 2005 5 50 116 6

BARD 5 MW 2010 5 50 122 Prototype b

REpower 5M 2005 5 50 126 15

Siemens SWT-2.3 2003 2.3 50, 60 82, 93 221

Siemens SWT-3.6 2005 3.6 50 107 134

Siemens SWT-3.6 2011 3.6 50 120 Prototype

Sinovel SL3000 2010 3 50 91 34

Vestas V80-2.0 2000 2 50, 60 80 208

Vestas V90-3.0 2004 c 3 50, 60 90 263

Vestas V112-3.0 2011 3 50, 60 112 Prototype

a Based on projects fully commissioned through year-end 2010.
b The BARD Offshore 1 project will have 80 turbines, and installation began in March 2010.
c In early 2007, Vestas temporarily withdrew its V90-3.0 model from the offshore wind market
after 72 of a total of 96 V90-3.0 turbines then operating offshore (United Kingdom and the
Netherlands) developed major gearbox problems. They were corrected, and the model was
offered for sale again in May 2008.
S OURCE : Adapted from NYSERDA 2010; supplemented with data from Musial and Ram 2010,
Section 2, 10-22.

installation, and operation for offshore wind facilities. Performance and
safety could vary among states if each is required to develop its own regu-
latory processes. The state projects will also provide the first U.S. experi-
ence with the regulatory processes put in place by the Bureau of Ocean
Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (see Box 1-1). The
exception to this is the project proposed by Cape Wind Associates, LLC.
The Cape Wind project is a 468-MW wind farm to be located 4.7 miles off
the coast of Massachusetts. The project has been granted a site lease by the
federal government but will still need to obtain approval of the plans it
must submit in accordance with the process laid out in Box 1-1.

Progress in Development of U.S. Offshore Wind Facilities

As of November 2010, there were no offshore wind power facilities in the
United States, but it is probable that construction activities for offshore
wind energy projects will begin soon. In 2008, the U.S. Department of