GE building largest wind turbine rotor test rig at Dutch site

The renewables unit of General Electric Co (NYSE:GE) is building what it says is the largest wind turbine rotor test rig of its kind at a site in the Netherlands.

GE Renewable Energy, in partnership with LM Wind Power and TNO, is constructing the facility at the WMC Technology Center in Wieringerwerf. The work is being done as part of the three-year STRETCH project, partially funded by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.

The company explained in a statement that the rotor test rig will enable verifying the strength and the dynamic behaviour of wind turbine rotors under the enormous mechanical loads caused by large blades. The project will help improve existing design tools.

Commissioning is expected in November 2020.

“Without innovations, larger turbines would become too heavy and too expensive to be commercially viable. Fast-paced innovation in wind turbine blade and rotor design, materials, construction and manufacturing have made the up-scaling of offshore wind turbines feasible and attractive around the world,” said Peter Eecen, TNO Wind Energy R&D Manager.

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