GE Renewable Energy has secured certification for LM Wind Power’s record-breaking 107-m blade for the Haliade-X offshore wind turbine
Component certification was secured from certifying body TÜV Nord following extensive testing of two 107-m blades produced at the company’s factory in Cherbourg, France.
One blade completed its testing at the Wind Technology Testing Centre in Boston in the US in September. The second underwent full-scale testing, including static tests, fatigue tests and post-fatigue tests at the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult’s facility in Blyth, UK.
GE Renewable Energy vice president engineering Hanif Mashal described the tests on the world’s longest wind turbine blades as “a technological milestone never seen or tried before.”
ORE Catapult test and validation director Tony Quinn said, “The test programme undertaken on the LM 107-m blade was the most intensive and rigorous that we have undertaken, applying extreme loads under laboratory conditions 50% greater than ever previously applied in a blade test.
“To achieve full certification of the longest blade in the world is a ground-breaking achievement and testament to an unparalleled programme of collaboration between LM, GE Renewable Energy and ORE Catapult under the most challenging of global circumstances.”
GE Renewable Energy recently confirmed that the prototype of its Haliade-X offshore wind turbine, the world’s most powerful operational wind turbine to date, is now operating at a power output of 13 MW.
The prototype will now undergo a series of tests and be subject to a range of measurements as it progresses towards type certification in the coming months.
The Haliade-X 13 MW, which is an uprated version of the prototype that has been successfully operating in Rotterdam since November 2019, recently secured a provisional type certificate and set a new world record by generating 288 MWh in 24 hours.
The Haliade-X 13 MW turbine will be used in the first two phases of the UK’s Dogger Bank offshore windfarm, with 190 units to be installed starting in 2023.
Haliade-X technology has also been selected as the preferred wind turbine for the 120-MW Skipjack and 1,100-MW Ocean Wind projects in the US.
Series production of the Haliade-X will kick off in H2 2021 at GE’s Saint-Nazaire factory in France.
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