General Electric’s Haliade-X prototype wind turbine with a capacity of 12 MW is the world largest offshore turbine currently in operation, it has been upgraded and is now operating at a 13 MW output (8% increased capacity). Haliade-X is the world-leading wind turbine at the moment which can produce 312 MWh of energy per day, enough to power 30,000+ homes in the area.
The Vineyard Wind project is well underway in developing the United State’s first utility-scale offshore wind energy project over 15 miles off the coast of Massachusetts. According to the developers of the Vineyard Wind project, GE’s turbines, specifically Haliade-X will be used in the Vineyard Wind project off Massachusetts.
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 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.”
Increased output efficiency, makes wind turbines promising. GE has invested more than $400 million to develop the most powerful offshore wind turbines. Energy analyst John Rogers writing for the Union of Concerned Scientists did the math regarding the new turbine’s energy production and found that it could produce all of a home’s energy needs in just seven seconds. Meanwhile, General Electric claims that a single spin of the GE Haliade-X turbine could power a home for 2 days. Impressive!
“The selection of GE as our preferred turbine supplier means that a historic American company will play a vital role in the development of the first commercial-scale offshore wind power in the U.S.,” said in a statement Vineyard Wind CEO Lars T. Pedersen.
“This is a huge moment not only for the future of our project but also for the future of an industry that is poised for exponential growth in the coming decades.”
Haliade-X 13 MW Technical Figures
- 13 MW capacity
- 220-meter rotor
- 248 meters high
- 107-meter long blades
- 38,000 m2 swept area
One Haliade-X 13 MW will be able to generate 4% more Annual Energy Production (AEP) than the previous 12 MW version of the prototype. Increased energy output capacity, in turn, means that fewer wind turbines will be required to meet the energy needs and thus less effort in building them and less area required for the design and construction.