GE Vernova’s first Haliade-X offshore wind turbine, the largest of its kind installed in European waters, began producing power off the United Kingdom coast.
The 13-megawatt turbine is the first of 277 that will be installed at the GW Dogger Bank Wind Farm. The wind farm is expected to be the largest offshore wind farm in the world once completed, and it will use a mix of 13 MW and 14 MW turbines to power about 6 million U.K. households.
The Haliade-X wind turbines will also be used as a part of the 800 MW Vineyard Wind project, the first utility-scale wind farm in the United States, and in the Ocean Wind I project in New Jersey.
"Energizing the first Haliade-X at sea is another important step in the evolution of the offshore wind industry,” said Jan Kjaersgaard, CEO of GE Vernova's offshore wind business. “The Haliade-X was designed to provide clean, reliable renewable energy at scale to projects such as Dogger Bank. It is exactly the kind of innovative technology GE Vernova will rely on to continue to electrify the world while simultaneously working to decarbonize it."
Offshore wind farms reportedly provide a more consistent energy supply than onshore wind farms due to higher wind speeds and a more constant presence of wind. Offshore turbines also may have reduced environmental impacts since they are placed far away from local populations and have more space for construction.
The Haliade-X turbine specifically increases wind generation efficiency with a 60% to 64% capacity above industry standards, making it the most powerful offshore wind turbine on the market, according to GE Vernova. For three years, a prototype of the Haliade-X has been in operation off the coast of the Netherlands, where it was found to operate at up to 14.7 MW and received independent certification from DNV.
The U.K. is currently the world leader in offshore wind, with nearly 2,200 offshore turbines present as of 2020 and meeting about 13% of the country's electricity needs. According to the UN Global Compact Network, the U.K. will need to continue increasing its wind capacity by 3 gigawatts each year to meet its target of ensuring 80% of energy produced is renewable by 2050.
