The world’s most powerful wind turbine has arrived in the UK for testing against some of the world’s toughest offshore conditions.
The nacelle from GE Renewable Energy’s Haliade-X 12 megawatt (MW) offshore wind turbine is set to be rigorously tested for years of operation at sea by the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult.
The Glasgow-headquartered innovation group will test the nacelle – the size of six double decker buses – at its facility in Blyth, Northumberland.
GE Renewable Energy also revealed it is investing almost £15 million in testing and research and development activities in the UK.
John Lavelle, president and chief executive of GE’s Offshore Wind business, said: “GE’s Haliade-X technology will have an important role to play in helping the UK to achieve its Offshore Wind Sector Deal goals of 30 GW by 2030, and UK Government’s ambition to work for greenhouse emission reduction to ‘net-zero’ by 2050.
“Our Haliade-X global testing program will allow us to put different components under controlled and extreme conditions in a faster way, to adapt our technology in a shortened time while introducing new features to meet customers’ demands, and reduce the validation time before starting serial production in 2021.”
It is the second Haliade-X nacelle to be assembled.
The first was recently installed in Rotterdam and last week produced its first power.
Andrew Jamieson, chief executive of ORE Catapult, added: “Once again, the North East is playing a significant role in the UK offshore wind success story by welcoming another key component of the world’s largest offshore wind turbine to date, following the arrival of the turbine’s 107m blade for testing earlier this year.”
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