GE is lining up a 17-18MW version of its flagship Haliade-X offshore wind turbine, in what could be the most powerful machine placed on the market so far by a Western manufacturer.
The power rating of a next-generation beefed-up Haliade-X was hinted at by Scott Strazik, CEO of GE Vernova – the US giant’s newly-formed energy business – when he spoke to investors about the order backlog and future prospects for the turbine, currently being deployed at 12-14MW.
“We’re getting a very positive reception from the market with our 17-18MW Haliade-X variant off what we’re shipping this year,” Strazik said.
“Over the course of this year there’s a high likelihood we’ll get tech selects for that next product and economics that we believe can be very profitable, but they won’t convert to orders for a period of time, more likely ‘24, some of it into ’25.”
GE took the offshore wind turbine sector by storm in 2018 when it unveiled the 12MW Haliade-X, a move reported first by Recharge, busting through the 10MW barrier and becoming the world’s most powerful machine in commercial development.
Since then western peers such as Siemens Gamesa and Vestas have joined it in the 14-15MW ratings range, while Chinese giants such as Mingyang have pushed on to 18MW.
The Haliade-X was the focus of a legal battle last year with rival Siemens Gamesa, with the latter winning a court ruling that forced a redesign of the turbine to remain legal in the US market, where GE is planning major production facilities for the next generation of its machine to meet demand growth in its homeland.
The ever-increasing power ratings of turbines and associated scale-up in size has started a live debate in the industry over whether a pause is needed to allow the wider supply chain to meet the requirements of current models.
Asked for more details of the 17-18MW Halidade-X referred to by Strazik, a spokesperson for GE Offshore Wind told Recharge: "We continue to have positive conversations with our customers about the next generation of our Haliade-X technology, reinforcing the value of evolving our existing platform to meet future industry needs."
Strazik struck a cautious note when discussing GE Vernova’s future in the offshore wind sector, telling analysts at GE’s Investor Day event that “we’re going to be very selective, we’re going to focus on markets where we have a competitive advantage”.
But he added: “Looking at the second half of the decade, it’s hard to not believe that offshore wind is going to be a meaningful part of GE Vernova and the energy transition.”
