Giant Turbines Poised to Claim Offshore Wind

A wave of giant turbines appears set to define the offshore wind energy industry for the next decade.The first of its kind, the Haliade-X turbine-designed and built by GE Renewable Energy, headquartered in Paris, France-stands 260 m tall, with a rotor 220 m in diameter, its 107 m blades sweeping an area of 38 000 m 2 (Fig. 1).The prototype, built on the harbourside in Rotterdam, the Netherlands (Fig. 2), was initially a 12 MW machine, since optimised to 13 MW.Industry certified in November 2020, the turbine produced its first milliwatt hour of electricity in November 2019.