The first of the largest wind turbine blades ever manufactured, the 107-metre-long LM 107.0 P, model from GE-owned LM Wind Power, has left the OEM’s factory in Cherbourg, France.
Five 107.0Ps will be initially be manufactured, three for the prototype currently being assembled at a quasi-offshore site in Port of Rotterdam, and two others, one which will be tested at an unnamed facility in the US and one at ORE Catapult in the UK.
The flagship's four tower segments, manufactured at contractor GRI's Seville, Spain factory, arrived last week in the Dutch habour.
GE is spending €320m ($400m) to develop the Haliade-X, which is designed to generate 67GWh of power a year using a 220-metre-diameter rotor turning a direct-drive and permanent-magnet-generator transmission system.
The conception and construction of the Haliade-X platform – the launch of which Recharge revealed exclusively last year – has been founded on a cross-portfolio approach at GE, with the conglomerate engaged in “unprecedented collaboration” within the group.
GE Renewable Energy, which currently has a 10GW in bids “at various stages of negotiation” out for projects internationally for the Haliade-X, hopes to have the turbine type certificate next year and first commercial units shipped in 2021.
Vattenfall recently announced it would deploy of the Haliade-X 12MW on its future projects in European waters.
