![]() A rendering of GE's 12-MW Haliade-X offshore wind turbine. One Haliade-X 12-MW turbine would generate 67 GWh annually. General Electric Co. |
General Electric Co.'s renewable energy segment is developing a 12-MW offshore wind turbine designed to open new opportunities for the industrial giant in the growing U.S. offshore wind industry.
GE Renewable Energy will spend over $400 million developing and testing the Haliade-X turbine over the next three to five years, the company announced March 1. According to a news release, the turbine will be 260 meters tall with a 220-meter rotor and will produce 45% more energy than any other offshore wind turbine currently on the market. That will make the Haliade-X, at triple the size of the Statue of Liberty, the world's most powerful offshore turbine when it comes into operation.
"We want to lead in the technologies that are driving the global energy transition," General Electric, or GE, CEO John Flannery said in a statement. "Offshore wind is one of those technologies and we will bring the full resources of GE to make the Haliade-X program successful for our customers."
GE's new design advances the race among suppliers to produce larger and larger machines. Taller turbines with longer blades are more efficient since they spin further from the surface, where the air is less turbulent and more consistent for optimizing wind energy, said John F. Hall, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Buffalo. Offshore wind turbines are also able to harness more energy than onshore installations.
The company said it plans to hold demonstrations in 2019 and ship the first units in 2021. That positions GE to take advantage of the expanding U.S. market, which is forecast to take off in the early 2020s.
Offshore goals
"This puts General Electric ahead," Hall said in an interview, adding that the future lies in bigger turbine designs.
GE did not specifically indicate where it intends to sell the Haliade-X turbine. The company is a supplier to the 30-MW Block Island Offshore Wind farm, the U.S.'s sole offshore wind project. Going forward, cost reductions and new policies should help the domestic industry mature.
More than 4,200 MW of offshore wind capacity is scheduled to come online in U.S. waters between 2021 and 2030, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. Federal regulators are trying to streamline the project planning process; on Jan. 18, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said it is developing draft guidelines to give developers more flexibility and time in choosing important project elements such as turbines.
At the same time several coastal states have laid out ambitious goals for offshore wind. New Jersey's public utilities board ordered its staff on Feb. 28 to prepare a solicitation for 1,000 MW of offshore wind capacity as part of Gov. Phil Murphy's overall goal of 3,500 MW by 2030. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration has been working with state agencies to put 800 MW of offshore wind farms into commercial operation by 2025 as part of the state's 2,400 MW offshore wind procurement goal.
Regardless of where GE markets its new turbine, it could help boost GE's position among wind turbine manufacturers. In 2017, GE did not contribute to the more than 4,800 MW of offshore wind capacity added worldwide, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance; Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy led the offshore wind market, with a share of nearly 56%, followed by Germany's Senvion S.A. and Shanghai Electric Wind Power Equipment Co., Ltd., or Sewind.

