Emma shares this latest news on behalf of MHI Vestas Offshore Wind. Ed
An Isle of Wight pupil has been named one of the two winners of a national competition run by MHI Vestas Offshore Wind, advanced manufacturers of offshore wind turbines, who have a blade production facility at West Medina Mills on the Island.
MHI Vestas’ Brand the Blades competition was launched in February as part of their Parliamentary Blades Project which is a celebration of both the UK’s pivotal role in delivering affordable offshore wind and the skilled advanced manufacturing workforce at MHI Vestas’ facility on the Isle of Wight.
Nationwide competition
For the Brand the Blades competition, Key Stage 2 and 3 pupils from across the UK were invited to create a name, logo and rationale behind their chosen design for the Parliamentary Blades.
The two Parliamentary Blades have been manufactured at West Medina Mills and included components that were signed by MPs, Lords, and stakeholders at MHI Vestas’ Parliamentary Reception in Parliament on 1st November 2016 in order to showcase the very best in British advanced manufacturing.
One blade will be one of the first to be exported from the Isle of Wight and installed in a German offshore wind farm Borkum Riffgrund II and the other will be going into operation at the Walney Extension Offshore Wind Farm in the Irish Sea, off the coast of Cumbria.
Great to share some of the exciting developments
Pete Clusky, of MHI Vestas, said:
“Offshore Wind is in a really exciting phase at present with competition and advanced technology driving accelerated cost reduction. Our team on the Isle of Wight manufacture the largest offshore wind turbine blade in the world and are at vanguard of developments in the sector.
“Offshore Wind is on track to be the UK’s lowest cost large scale electricity generating technology in the early-mid 2020s. It has been great to share some of the exciting developments in the sector with young people through the Brand the Blades competition; we received hundreds of entries from up and down the UK.”
Isle of Wight winner
Lotty Green, 13, a year 8 student from Cowes Enterprise College (CEC), was named the winner of the Key Stage 3 competition at a reception held at MHI Vestas’ Isle of Wight facility.
Archer Dawson, 10, from Chartfield School in Kent, was also announced as the winner of the KS2 category at the event. The reception was attended parliamentarians and dignitaries including representatives from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Offshore Wind Industrial Council, and senior members of the executive team at MHI Vestas.
Lotty’s winning name was “Zephyros” and she explains more:
“Zephyros is the Greek God of the West Winds, and was known for being the beneficial wind god. I thought that is was a fitting name as one of the Parliamentary Blades will use the winds and are being installed off Cumbrian coast on the west of the UK.”
Winning design at Walney offshore wind farm
Lotty’s winning design along with the KS2 winner’s design for the logo will be engraved on a plaque that will be placed in the V164-8.0MW offshore wind turbine at the Walney offshore wind farm where one of the Parliamentary Blades will be deployed and a second plaque will be presented to Cowes Enterprise College.
Lotty will also receive MHI Vestas merchandise and, thanks to her winning entry, CEC will enjoy a bespoke and interactive STEM workshop delivered by a team from MHI Vestas who design, produce and maintain the offshore wind turbine blades.
Pupils will also be able to experience what it is like to head up to the top of the gigantic turbines to get an appreciation of the engineering challenges involved thanks to the loan of an Occulus Rift virtual reality set-up to CEC.
Pete Clusky added:
“The competition and Parliamentary Blades Project has helped to communicate to young people and stakeholders across the UK the importance of offshore wind power for the UK in terms of both energy production and industrial strategy. The blade production team on the Isle of Wight have been doing a fantastic job over the last 20 months, so the Island is the perfect place to showcase our commitment to the UK economy.”
Image: Lotty Green (Cowes Enterprise College) and James Luter (Production Director IOW MHI Vestas)
