Vestas will manufacture blades for the 257MW Arcadis Ost 1 offshore wind farm at its Isle of Wight plant from the end of the second quarter of 2022.
The V174-9.5MW turbine blade marks a new manufacturing line at Isle of Wight, which will initially support turbine deliveries to the Parkwind Baltic Sea project, due to start operations next year.
It also adds to Vestas’ existing manufacturing capacity in Denmark and Taiwan.
Vestas chief operating officer for Northern & Central Europe Johnny Høy Henriksen said: “Introducing a new V174-9.5 MW manufacturing line at Isle of Wight will help boost supply of a key component for the European market and it underlines how Vestas’ flexible manufacturing setup ensures a competitive product offering to our customers.
“Vestas has invested in the UK for 20 years, and we have great pride in the technical expertise in blade manufacturing that we have developed at our Isle of Wight plant.”
The Isle of Wight plant currently produces V164 turbine blades and has delivered over 1,000 blades to North European markets, including more than £360m (€432.5m) worth of exports since 2014.
In the past five years, Vestas has delivered V164 blades from the Isle of Wight to seven of the UK’s largest offshore wind projects.
Since 2002, Vestas has tested and manufactured wind turbine blades on the Isle of Wight, prototyping and producing over 10,000 blades and currently employing more than 650 full-time employees in high- value manufacturing.
Vestas has invested close to £1bn with UK suppliers, including more than £100m per year since 2017.
In total, Vestas currently employs over 1,500 people in the UK, spanning blade manufacturing, R&D, construction, service and other vital functions.