Natural energy
The world’s largest wind turbine goes into operation in Rotterdam
A Haliade X in Rotterdam
© PR
In Rotterdam, the Haliade-X 13 has started to turn. The turbine has an output of 14 megawatts. The 260 meter high system is intended for a wind farm in the North Sea. It is supposed to supply six million households.
The turbines on General Electric’s Haliade platform are intended for offshore use at sea, but the first prototypes are being built on land. A Haliade-X 13 has now started operation in Rotterdam. A first turbine from the Haliade X platform family was completed in 2019 (“A single rotation of this wind turbine supplies a house with energy for two days”). It has an output of 12 MW, the improved version now achieves 14 MW. This makes it the most powerful turbine built in the world. Each of its blades is 107 m long. It rises up to 260 meters. The company calculates that it can generate up to 74 GWh of energy per year.
The turbines of the Haliade-X platform are intended for the offshore wind farm Dogger Bank C. It is located about 130 kilometers off the north-east coast of England. 87 of the mega-turbines are to be installed there. The project will be completed in three phases, together they should be able to supply six million households with electricity.
Race for more performance
The Haliade-X 13 is likely to lose its top position worldwide. Other companies are also taking part in the giant turbine race. Vestas from Denmark is developing a model with 15 MW, Siemens has announced a turbine with 14 MW, the Chinese company MingYang Smart Energy has presented the MySE 16.0-242, it reaches 16 MW and is to be built from 2024.
High cost of offshore facilities
The growth in size is intended to alleviate the biggest problem facing offshore plants, they are relatively expensive. At sea there is a lot of space for the turbines, there you don’t have to worry about any residents. But the costs explode for systems at sea. The US Energy Information Administration has calculated energy production costs for 2026 – with no direct subsidies. And without the cost of intermediate storage. According to this, land-based wind energy costs 31 US dollars per megawatt hour. On the water, it turns out to be an impressive US $ 120.52. That is almost twice as expensive as electricity from the coal-fired power plant. Solar energy costs just $ 32.78, which is only about a quarter.
The giant turbines should now help to cut the costs of offshore wind power by 37 to 49 percent by 2050. It remains to be seen whether the strategy will work. There are enough sparsely populated and windy regions on the mainland. If the giant turbines are built there, they should in turn produce electricity much cheaper than on the sea.
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