GE's Haliade-X blade arrives for tests in Boston

A blade that is part of GE Renewable Energy’s 12-MW Haliade-X offshore wind turbine has arrived at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) in Boston, where it will undergo a series of fatigue tests.

MassCEC will test the 107-metre (351 ft) blade at its Wind Technology Testing Center (WTTC) as part of the process of commercialising the turbine by 2021. The parties said in a joint statement that the particular component will be moved millions of times over a period of a few months in order to validate that it can withstand more than 25 years of operation at sea.

The WTTC provides a full suite of certification tests for turbine blade sections up to 90 metres in length and a couple of weeks ago won a grant from the US Department of Energy to upgrade equipment at the site so it could conduct structural testing of 85 to 120-metre long blades.

GE Renewable Energy was recently chosen as the preferred turbine supplier for the Dogger Bank offshore wind power complex in the North Sea, comprising three separate 1,200-MW projects. The unit of General Electric (NYSE:GE) is expected to equip those wind parks with the Haliade-X. Moreover, that turbine model will be used as part of Ørsted’s (CPH:ORSTED) 120-MW Skipjack and 1,100-MW Ocean Wind projects off the coasts of Maryland and New Jersey, respectively.

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