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Product Portfolios Firmly Positioned for Multi-Megawatt Sales

Manufacturers are shifting their product strategies in order to address larger-scale project implementations, higher capacity turbines and lower wind speeds.  Individual site characteristics will always determine what turbines are acceptable for buyers to hit their cost of energy targets; however, several trends can be seen in terms of the type of products suppliers are introducing to the market and what is in the development pipeline.    

Manufacturers have taken significantly different approaches in terms of generator size and rotor size, based on the varying demands of their target markets.  Most suppliers have at least one model available in three segments including 500 kW to 1 MW, 1 MW to 2 MW, and above 2 MW, with varying rotor sizes at 2 MW and above to meet Class II or I wind site conditions.  However, some suppliers have created platforms using one generator size with varying rotors (Vestas, GE, Gamesa, and Enercon), while others have kept a tighter focus on rotor and generator size with fewer variations on existing models (Nordex, Suzlon, and Mitsubishi).