GE Haliade – X prototype gets a power boost

GE Renewable Energy’s Haliade-X prototype, the world’s most powerful wind turbine operating to date, has been optimized and is now operating at a 13 MW power output.

During the following months, the prototype operating in the Port of Rotterdam will undergo a series of tests to perform different types of measurements and obtain its type certificate in the coming months, GE Renewable Energy said.

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

This uprated 13 MW Haliade-X version will continue to feature 107-meter long blades and a 220-meter rotor and will be able to generate four per cent more Annual Energy Production (AEP) than the previous 12 MW version of the prototype, the turbine maker said.

“With three years in the making, the Haliade-X platform has proven to be a successful story,” Vincent Schellings, Chief Technology Officer for Offshore Wind at GE Renewable Energy, said.

”Combined with almost 5 GW of customer commitments and an international testing and R&D program, the 13 MW uprated version is a true testament of how we continue to innovate and develop our Haliade-X technology to address our customers’ needs.”

The Haliade-X 13 MW offshore wind turbine will be used in the first two phases of the Dogger Bank Wind Farm, with a total of 190 units to be installed off the UK 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 by Ørsted as the preferred wind turbine for the 120 MW Skipjack and 1,100 MW Ocean Wind projects in the US.

The Haliade-X platform serial production is scheduled to start in the second half of 2021 at GE’s Saint-Nazaire factory in France.