GE Renewable Energy has announced that its Haliade-X prototype, said to be the world’s most powerful wind turbine in operation, has been optimised and is now running at a rated at a 13 MW power output. During the coming months, the prototype will undergo a series of tests aimed at obtaining type certification.
The Haliade-X 13 MW, which is an uprated version of the prototype that has been successfully operating in Rotterdam since November 2019, recently secured its provisional type certification (IECRE Provisional RNA Component Certificate by DNV-GL) and set a new world record by generating 288 MWh in a single day.
This uprated machine has the same 107-metre long blades, 220-metre rotor and 38 000 sq metre swept area as its predecessor but can generate a 4% greater annual energy production (AEP) than the 12 MW version. These figures are calculated for wind conditions on a typical German North Sea site.
Vincent Schellings, chief technology officer for Offshore Wind at GE Renewable Energy, said “With three years in the making, the Haliade-X platform has proven to be a successful story. Combined with almost 5 GW of customer commitments and an international testing and R&D programme, the 13 MW uprated version is a true testament of how we continue to innovate and develop our Haliade-X technology.”
The uprated wind turbine will be deployed in the first two phases of UK’s Dogger Bank Wind Farm, with a total of 190 units to be installed starting in 2023. This will mark the first installation of the world’s most powerful wind turbine in operation to date at what will be the world’s biggest offshore wind farm. The Haliade-X technology has also been selected as the preferred wind turbine for the 120 MW Skipjack and 1100 MW Ocean Wind projects in the USA. Serial production will kick off in the second half of 2021 at GE’s Saint-Nazaire factory in France.
