A prototype of GE’s 5MW-plus Cypress onshore wind turbine platform has started operating for the first time at a site in the Netherlands.
Installation of the 5.3MW machine started late last year at Wieringermeer and the unit is now generating electricity at full-power, the company said.
GE will continue to operate the prototype during the months to come in order to validate the performance of the platform.
The testing will also support the process of obtaining the type certificate, a key step in commercialising the platform.
GE Renewable Energy chief executive Jerome Pecresse said: “We’re delighted with the progress our team has been able to make in bringing our innovative, high-tech turbine to market on an accelerated schedule.
“We are confident that Cypress, with its two-piece blade design, will be a game changer for the industry.
“We’re hearing equal enthusiasm from our customers across the globe, who tell us they appreciate the potential of Cypress to help them both lower the cost of onshore wind and gain added flexibility in siting turbines.”
GE added that the Cypress platform is offered with multiple ratings and varying hub heights.
The new machine offers a 50% increase in annual energy production compared with GE’s 3MW platform.
Group company LM Wind Power as well as GE’s onshore wind business and global research centre combined to design the two-piece carbon blade for the turbine.
The improvements from the longer rotors help to drive down levelised cost of electricity and the proprietary blade design allows these larger turbines to be installed in locations that were previously inaccessible, GE said.
LM Wind Power chief executive Duncan Berry said: “The project is truly coming together in a very short and demanding time frame.
“We have invented a new and effective solution for a blade in two parts, which is borne of the full expertise of LM Wind Power engineers combined with design input from GE Renewable Energy and GE Research. The technology results from decades of blade making knowledge and experience.”