The four tower sections that will be part of Haliade-X 12 MW prototype to be installed this summer have just arrived at the Port of Rotterdam, where Pondera Development and GE are building the largest wind turbine in the world.
After unloading the tower segments, a series of pre-assembly works will take place, including the installation of some tower segments. Haliade-X 12 MW nacelle and blade components, currently being manufactured in Saint-Nazaire and Cherbourg (France) respectively, will arrive later in the summer to complete the prototype installation. This demo unit will be installed onshore to provide easier access for testing. During the initial period of operations, 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. Haliade-X 12 MW is a multi-million investment that will help that will help reduce offshore wind’s cost of energy in order to make it a more competitive source of clean and renewable energy.