14 DAY TRIAL // Yesterday, Vestas Wind Systems announced that its V164-8.0 prototype wind turbine, which also happens to be the world's largest and most powerful installation of its kind, had successfully been swung into gear in Denmark.
The wind turbine went online at the Danish National Test Center for Large Wind Turbines in Østerild, and successfully rolled out its first kWh of electricity.
Information shared with the public says that the turbine was switched on this past Tuesday, and that it will remain operational for several months to come.
During this time, specialists and engineers will closely monitor its performance, and try to determine what changes – if any – need be made to its design before Vestas start serial production in 2015.
“Our first V164-8.0 MW prototype wind turbine has successfully produced its first kilowatt hour of electricity, making it the worlds’ most powerful turbine in operation!” Vestas writes on Google+.
“We now look forward to evaluating the turbine's performance and given the necessary pipeline of orders we could begin serial production in 2015,” it goes on to explain.
The company has also made public pictures showing the wind turbine in action. One of these pictures is made available next to this article.
According to Business Green, the V164-8.0 MW prototype wind turbine measures an impressive 220 meters (nearly 722 feet) in height.
Its blades are not to be ignored either, meaning that they span over an area about the size of three football pitches, the same source details.
Its makers say that, all things considered, the wind turbine is able to produce enough electricity to meet the demand of about 7,500 households.
Vestas argues that, according to its estimates, installing such oversized wind turbines instead of smaller ones makes a great deal of sense, especially financially-wise.
Thus, it claims that wind farms made up of turbines such as the one now undergoing performance tests in Denmark would require less frequent service visits, meaning that maintenance costs would be reduced.
Besides, the company says that it would cost less money to keep a wind farm comprising large turbines operational.