Nov 30 2010
The Azimut project, involving 11 companies ands 22 research centers from Spain as well as a number of major companies such as Acciona Windpower and Gamesa, is expected to develop a 15 MW offshore wind turbine to overtake the 10 MW power production capability of Aerogenerator X currently under development in the UK.
The proposed wind turbine will incorporate 100% Spanish know-how and is estimated to be completed with an investment of around 25 million euros.
Gamesa, who leads Azimut as project coordinator, is planning to set up a technological ground work for developing a wind turbine of that magnitude by 2020. Gamesa will own the responsibility for the works related to offshore wind power generation and Acciona Windpower will be engaged in incorporating the electric power conversion expertise required for the project. Acciona Energia will take responsibility of supervising the building, operations and continuous management of the wind turbines at offshore wind sites, while Alstom Wind will supervise the requirements of marine structure and substructure constituents. Finally, Iberdrola Renewables is expected to offer its expertise in connecting the offshore wind turbine locations to the power distribution grid.
The Azimut project received the approval of Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) of Spain and is expected to get financial support from Cenit (National Strategic Consortium in Technical Research) Program.