The tower sections for GE’s Haliade-X 12 MW offshore wind turbine prototype have been shipped and will be installed later this summer at the Maasvlakte-Rotterdam in The Netherlands.
The tower sections for GE’s Haliade-X 12 MW offshore wind turbine prototype have been shipped and will be installed later this summer at the Maasvlakte-Rotterdam in The Netherlands.
The four segments constructed at tower manufacturer GRI’s site in Seville, Spain will arrive in the Netherlands before the end of June.
On arrival in Rotterdam pre-assembly work will take place, including the installation of some tower segments. After the nacelle and blade components arrive later in the summer, construction of the prototype will be completed.
Preparatory work at Port of Rotterdam got underway earlier this year. Future Wind, a joint venture between Pondera Development and SIF Holding Netherlands, held a ground-breaking ceremony at the Maasvlakte area at Port of Rotterdam in March 2019 to celebrate the start of activity required to host GE’s new turbine.
GE Renewable Energy president and chief executive John Lavelle said, “Shipping the tower sections is another important milestone in the development of our Haliade-X 12MW prototype. Our teams in Cherbourg and Saint-Nazaire in France are rapidly progressing with the assembly of the Haliade-X and we are working to get the unit fully installed before the end of the summer.”
The Haliade-X 12MW nacelle is being assembled in Saint-Nazaire and its 107-m blades are being manufactured at LM Wind Power’s site in Cherbourg.
The prototype will be installed onshore to provide easier access for testing. During the initial period of operation, it will allow GE Renewable Energy to collect data needed to obtain a type certificate, a key step to go into serial production in 2021.
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