Wind turbine prototype produces impressive results

Energy solutions company GE Renewable Energy – which will be exhibiting at African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa 2020 – announced last month that its Haliade-X prototype, the world’s most powerful wind turbine operating to date, has been optimised and is now operating at a 13 MW power output.

The prototype will undergo a series of tests to perform different types of measurements and obtain its type certificate in the coming months.

The Haliade-X 13 MW, which is an upgraded version of the prototype that has been successfully operating in Rotterdam since November 2019, recently secured its provisional type certificate and set a new world record by generating 288 MWh/d.

This upgraded 13 MW Haliade-X version will continue to feature 107- m-long blades and a 220 m rotor and will be able to generate 4% more annual energy production than the previous 12 MW version of the prototype.

“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 research and development programme, the 13 MW upgraded version is a true testament of how we continue to innovate and develop our Haliade-X technology to address our customers’ needs,” says GE Renewable Energy offshore and wind chief technology officer Vincent Schellings.

The Haliade-X 13 MW offshore wind turbine will be used in the first two phases of the 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 1 100 MW Ocean Wind projects in the US.

Launched in 2018, GE’s Haliade-X offshore wind platform is helping to drive down offshore wind’s levelised cost of energy and is making offshore wind energy a more affordable source of renewable energy. The Haliade-X platform serial production will kick off in the second half of 2021 at GE’s Saint-Nazaire factory in France.

The prototype in Rotterdam has also been recognised as the Best Sustainable Invention of the Year by news magazine Time in December last year and Best Wind Turbine of the Year in January by Wind Power Monthly magazine.