In many respects, Vestas has received the largest onshore wind order of the quarter. Through its subsidiary First Look Solutions, project developers Low Carbon and Rezolv Energy have hired the Danish turbine manufacturer to not only deliver 192MW to the Romanian project Vifor, but also to manage the entire process until the wind farm’s 30 turbines go into operation before the end of 2025.

”Vestas is pleased to deliver this order as a turnkey project, and our thanks go to our partners in First Look Solutions for the great collaboration and their trust in our industry-leading technology,” says Vestas’ regional manager for Northern and Central Europe, Nils de Baar, in a statement.

Not only is the capacity and scale larger than any other on European soil so far this year, but there is also the prospect of even more to come. The 192MW is just the first phase of the Vifor project, which in its full extent will be 460.8MW. 

According to the developers’ environmental impact report, Vestas is slated for the EPC contract for the entire project, which is scheduled for completion in 2025. In fact, Vestas has been chosen to carry out the work since the project’s inception in 2010. But for now, the order is firm and unconditional for the first phase only.

Back at the beginning of the last decade, Vestas was very active in the Southeast European country. However, it was not all successful, as a number of self-developed Romanian wind farms caused major losses as the turbine manufacturer was unable to divest them. It wasn’t until 2019 that at least some of the farms were sold to Ikea owner Ingka’s investment company.

However, there is also a difference in size from the Romanian wind farms of the time. 

When Vestas deviated from its usual policy of not owning wind farms, it was reportedly because it had a number of aging V90s in stock that needed to be installed, and the solution was to do so on a number of Romanian wind farms in the development portfolio. But on the Vifor project, turbines from the newest part of the arsenal will be installed.

The order is for V162-6.2 MWs from the Enventus platform. Also delivered in a power upgraded version of 6.4MW. Once Vestas has put the wind farm into operation, a 15-year service agreement for the largest type, the AOM 5000, will follow. 

(English edit by Kristoffer Grønbæk)