The world's tallest and most powerful wind turbine is to be erected at the Danish green energy testing centre at Østerild in Thy, northwestern Jutland.
The prototype windmill, the work of the Danish engineering company Vestas, will stand tall at a proud 280 metres, only a little shy of the world-renowned Eiffel Tower (324 metres). Its height alone will constitute a world record, according to Peter Hjuler Jensen of the Department of Wind and Energy at the Technical University of Demark. Vestas described its future work as "the tallest and most powerful wind turbine in the world, once installed".
The new turbine, officially called V236-15.0 MW, will have the three blades, each measuring 115.5 metres in length, and will have a rotor diameter of 236 metres, on par with two football fields.
Energy production from the imposing Vestas structure will be 80 gigawatt hours per year, which is enough to provide electricity to 20,000 households, another record.
The wind turbine is expected to be constructed in 2022, with mass production slated to start in 2024, the company said.
"The prototype will be installed onshore to facilitate easy access for testing prior to installation, and the main prototype components will already have undergone thorough testing and verification at Vestas' and our partners' test facilities", the firm said in a press release.
Flat and largely unforested Denmark is considered among the world's leaders in the use of wind energy. In 2020, wind and solar combined supplied more than half of Denmark's electricity. The plan is to increase the share to 84 percent by 2035.