#futurewind – Future Wind

Futurewind celebrates inauguration Haliade-X 12 MW

On 17 and 19 December 2019 Pondera celebrated the inauguration of the World’s largest wind turbine: the GE Haliade-X 12 MW. “As developer and co-owner together with Sif – in the Futurewind project – we are proud to have contributed to this important new step in wind turbine technology” said Hans Rijntalder, Director of Pondera. He continues “And we would like to congratulate GE with this outstanding achievement. No need to tell that this step is important for the market development in Offshore Wind.”

During the official opening ceremony on 17 December, it was announced that Dutch energy company Eneco is set to purchase all the electricity generated by GE’s Haliade-X 12MW offshore wind turbine prototype. On 19 December we invited clients and relations to see and to hear more about this breakthrough technology.

According to GE, the Haliade-X 12MW prototype set a new world record by being the first wind turbine ever to generate 262MWh of clean energy in 24 hours, enough to power 30,000 households in the region.

Over the next five years, the Haliade-X prototype will undergo a series of tests to validate its power curve, loads, grid performance and reliability. The tests will also allow GE to validate operational procedures for installation and services teams and obtain a Type Certificate for the Haliade-X in 2020. Commercialization is planned by 2021, with serial production set to start in the second half of 2021.

17 december, official world wide press moment

19 december, Pondera Haliade-X client event

Eneco purchases electricity Haliade-X prototype

Eneco, Future Wind (a joint venture of Pondera Development and SIF Holding Nederland) and GE Renewable Energy announced today that Eneco will purchase all of the electricity generated by GE’s Haliade-X 12 MW prototype. The announcement was made during the inauguration ceremony for the prototype, that was recently installed at the port of Maasvlakte-Rotterdam (The Netherlands).

The prototype located at Maasvlakte Rotterdam in the Netherlands, has just set a new world record this past weekend by being the first wind turbine ever to generate 288 MWh of clean energy in 24 hours, enough to power 30,000 households in the region. Over the next five years period, the Haliade-X prototype will undergo a series of tests to validate the turbine’s power curve, loads, grid performance and reliability. The tests will also allow the company to validate operational procedures for installation and services teams. The testing will allow GE Renewable Energy to obtain a Type Certificate for the Haliade-X in 2020, keeping the company on track to commercialize the turbine by 2021.

HALIADE-X NACELLE ON ITS WAY TO ROTTERDAM

The Haliade-X nacelle is on its way to Rotterdam! The nacelle of the world’s most powerful offshore wind turbine, along with the 107-meter long blades, will be installed onshore to facilitate access for testing during the initial period of operations, and allow GE Renewable Energy to collect data needed to obtain the Type Certificate, a key step in commercializing the product in 2021.
Shipping and testing the first components of the Haliade-X 12 MW will keep us on track to commercialize it as scheduled. Haliade-X 12 MW will contribute to making offshore wind more affordable and will help developers drive the global growth of offshore wind while enabling all the environmental and economic development benefits such growth brings.

Key figures for the Haliade-X 12 MW

Capacity: 12 MW
Rotor diameter: 220 m
Tip height: 245 m
Blade length: 107 m
Annual energy yield: 46.3 GWh
Wind turbine swept area: 38,000 m²
(These numbers are based on the SDE wind report)

General information

Pondera Development and SIF Holding, together with GE Renewable Energy, are developing the Haliade-X on the Maasvlakte 2 in Rotterdam. The development of the innovative Haliade-X project in Rotterdam has been made possible thanks to Pondera’s extensive knowledge and many years of experience in Dutch wind energy legislation and regulatory policy. The increase in size and scale of (offshore) wind turbines is an important step in generating more sustainable energy, accelerating the energy transition and thereby limiting the effects of climate change.
The offshore wind turbine prototype will be installed onshore in order to ease access for testing and monitoring purposes. This will also allow GE to collect the data needed to obtain the Type Certificate, a key step in commercializing the Haliade-X.
The Haliade-X can generate 46.3 GWh of electricity annually. That is enough power for 15,900 European households and thus saves 28.1 kilotons of CO₂. In the fall of 2019, the Haliade-X will generate renewable energy on the SIF site on the Maasvlakte.

GE UNVEILS THE FIRST HALIADE-X 12 MW NACELLE

GE Renewable Energy has unveiled the nacelle of the world’s most powerful offshore wind turbine, the Haliade-X 12 MW. This unit will be shipped in the coming weeks from Saint-Nazaire (FR) to Rotterdam (NL) to join the tower already built on the Maasvlakte 2.
The wind turbine blades, manufactured by LM Wind Power in Cherbourg, will be shipped to the prototype site to complete the installation.

The video below shows the Haliade-X nacelle rolling out of the factory:

Key figures for the Haliade-X 12 MW

Capacity: 12 MW
Rotor diameter: 220 m
Tip height: 245 m
Blade length: 107 m
Annual energy yield: 46.3 GWh
Wind turbine swept area: 38,000 m²
(These numbers are based on the SDE wind report)

General information

The offshore wind turbine prototype will be installed onshore in order to ease access for testing and monitoring purposes. This will also allow GE to collect the data needed to obtain the Type Certificate, a key step in commercializing the Haliade-X.

The Haliade-X can generate 46.3 GWh of electricity annually. That is enough power for 15,900 European households and thus saves 28.1 kilotons of CO₂. In the fall of 2019, the Haliade-X will generate renewable energy on the SIF site on the Maasvlakte.

WORLD’S LARGEST WIND TURBINE BLADE IS LONGER THAN A FOOTBALL FIELD. HERE’S WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE

How long is the world’s largest wind turbine blade? Stretching 107 meters, the blade is longer than a football field and equal to 1.4 times the length of a Boeing 747. Using a different measure, it would take Usain Bolt, the fastest human and a world record holder in the 100-meter dash, close to 10 seconds to race from its root to its tip. It might also represent one of the largest single machine components ever built. Workers just popped the first one from its mold at an LM Wind Power factory in Cherbourg, France.

Three of these blades will form the rotor of GE’s Haliade-X 12MW, the world’s largest and most powerful offshore wind turbine, which is capable of powering 16,000 European homes. GE acquired LM Wind Power, the world’s largest designer and manufacturer of wind turbine blades, in 2017.

GE also recently laid the foundation for the first Haliade-X in Rotterdam, Holland. When complete, the prototype, which will stand on land, will be 260 meters tall from base to blade tips, and the rotor will sweep a circle with a diameter of 220 meters. The machine is expected to start producing electricity later this year.

The brand-new factory where LM Wind Power makes the massive blades for the Haliade-X 12MW is located on the banks of the English Channel in Normandy, just a short drive from the wide, sandy beaches where Allied troops landed on D-Day. LM Wind Power built the plant near Cherbourg’s industrial port to allow workers to load the blades onto ships and send them to their destination.]

Operating in three shifts, workers build the blades from a high-tech sandwich made from thin layers of glass and carbon fibers, and wood. They fuse everything together with a special resin.

GE Renewable Energy will put two blades through rigorous testing to demonstrate their ability to withstand more than 20 years of spinning offshore. Lukasz Cejrowski has been building wind turbine blades at LM Wind Power for more than a decade and oversees the company’s effort to build the 107-meter blade. Originally from Poland, he’s been living in Cherbourg since 2017, when LM Wind Power broke ground on the new factory. To him, the size of the blade is a matter of perspective. “When you spend some time with the blade, it doesn’t seem so big anymore. You get used to it,” he laughs. “Then again, after a hard day, I remind myself: If breaking a world record was easy, then everybody would do it, right?”

Bolt would agree.

PREPARING THE SITE FOR THE HALIADE-X 12 MW

Preparing the site that will host GE’s Haliade-X 12 MW, the most powerful offshore wind turbine in the world, to be installed in Maasvlakte-Rotterdam, Netherlands. HaliadeX 12 MW is currently being assembled at GE’s factory in Saint-Nazaire, France, while its three LM Wind Power-designed 107-metre blades are being manufactured in Cherbourg, France, and tower sections produced in Seville, Spain. All components will be shipped to Rotterdam, where pre-assembly work and installation will take place.