North American Windpower: Virginia Offshore Wind Project Will Use Alstom Turbines

Virginia Offshore Wind Project Will Use Alstom Turbines

in News Departments > Projects & Contracts

by NAW Staff Monday December 24 2012

Dominion Virginia Power, which was recently awarded a grant by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to complete the engineering, site evaluation and planning for an offshore project in Virginia, says Alstom's Haliade 150 offshore turbines will be used for this demonstration-scale initiative.

Dominion will install two Haliade 150 turbines approximately 22 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. The turbine is based on Alstom's Pure Torque technology and is combined with a permanent magnet direct drive generator and a 150-meter rotor to reduce the cost of offshore wind power by "increasing reliability and availability, improving drivetrain efficiency, boosting energy yield, and reducing operations and maintenance costs," according to Alstom.

"Virginia has the potential to generate as much as 2,000 MW of electricity using offshore wind, enough to power a half-million homes at peak demand," says Andy Geissbuehler, head of Alstom's North American wind business. "The Dominion-led team is focused on applying the right mix of technology and offshore engineering expertise to bring that energy to homes and businesses at competitive rates."

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