Vattenfall and GE have agreed to jointly cooperate on the deployment of the 12MW Haliade-X turbine in Europe.
The final details of the cooperation will be defined by summer and the two businesses said they will “deep dive” on specific projects within Vattenfall’s offshore wind pipeline in the autumn of this year.
Vattenfall senior vice president Gunnar Groebler said: “The cooperation with GE Renewable Energy enables us to remain one step ahead in wind turbine technology developments.
“The size and performance of Haliade-X 12MW will support us to further improve the competitiveness of offshore wind energy production.”
The cooperation is the result of 12 months of exchanges, during which Vattenfall conducted technical due diligence and both companies jointly worked on the customisation of the platform.
“Due to a lower number of turbines needed for future wind farms, there is also a positive impact on the environmental footprint,” Groebler added.
The development and production of the new turbine will mostly take place in France.
The nacelle will be assembled in GE factory in Saint Nazaire and blades will be manufactured in the LM Wind Power factory in Cherbourg.
The 12MW turbine features a 220-metre rotor, a 107-metre blade, the longest ever manufactured.
With the largest capacity factor in the industry, one Haliade-X turbine can generate 67 gigawatt hours annually, enough clean energy to supply 16,000 European households for one year.
GE Renewable Energy plans to install the Haliade-X prototype in Rotterdam this summer and to ship the first commercial units in 2021.