brighter from bottom to top. On islands such as Borkum, the gradation is blue. The NCS grading is intended to better integrate the plant towers into the horizon. The rotor blades were the only ones on the market with blade tips similar to the winglets on aircraft. In 2008, the first E-126 turbines (successor of the E-112) were installed at sites throughout Germany and Belgium, including the Estinnes wind farm (consisting of eleven E-126 turbines) in Belgium. Although the E-126 turbine was initially developed with a power rating of 6 MW, it has since been upgraded to 7.5 MW. The E-82 turbine was also upgraded and is available in 2, 2.3, and 3 MW versions. Currently Enercon does not offer or supply wind turbines to offshore projects and has at times expressed skepticism about offshore wind parks. Enercon was rumored to have been ready to supply turbines to Germany's Alpha Ventus offshore wind farm and to a near-shore park near Wilhelmshaven but did not do so. Turbines Note: wind turbine designations with a "*" mean the turbine either temporarily unavailable, or has been taken off sale permanently. Issues Patent dispute Enercon was prohibited from exporting their wind turbines to the US until 2010 due to alleged infringement of . In a dispute before the United States International Trade Commission, Enercon did not challenge the validity of the US patent but argued that their technology was not affected. The ITC decided that the patent covered the technology in question and banned Enercon turbines from the US market until 2010. Later, a cross patent agreement was made with the competitor General Electric, the successor of Kenetech, after similar claims of Enercon against GE. According to a NSA employee detailed information concerning Enercon was passed on to Kenetech via ECHELON. The aim of the alleged industrial espionage against Enercon was the forwarding of details of Wobben's generator technology to a US firm. Hacking Almost 6,000 Enercon wind turbines suffered a communications loss due to hacking around February 28, 2022. Other ventures From 2008 to 2020, Enercon was part owner of a railway company, that among other things owns the Abelitz–Aurich railway, (via :de:Eisenbahninfrastrukturgesellschaft Aurich-Emden) which is used to deliver wind turbine blades made by Enercon via rail to customers. During the time Enercon part-owned the rail line, the company undertook large scale investments in its infrastructure In 2020 Enercon sold its rail ventures