With a 107m blade length, 220m rotor diameter and 12MW output, GE’s Haliade-X wind turbine is the largest and most powerful offshore wind turbine produced to date. Once operational, each turbine will be capable of generating enough clean power for 16,000 households.
After producing the first Haliade-X blades last month, General Electric completed manufacturing of the first nacelle, which will be transported from the production site in Saint-Nazaire in France to the test facility in Maasvlakte-Rotterdam, the Netherlands for testing onshore. The four tower sections were produced by GRI in Seville, Spain. A second unit will be tested offshore at the ORE Catapult facility in Blyth, North-east England.
The blades unveiled in June
“The renewables industry took more than 20 years to install the first 17 GW of offshore wind. Today, the industry forecasts that it will install more than 90 GW over the next 12 years. This is being driven by lower cost of electricity from scale and technology. The Haliade-X shows GE’s commitment to the offshore wind segment and will set a new benchmark for cost of electricity, thus driving more offshore growth.”
— Jérôme Pécresse, President and CEO of GE Renewable Energy
