GE Renewable Energy has installed three out of four tower sections which will support the prototype Haliade-X 12 MW wind turbine at Maasvlakte in the Port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
The final tower section will be installed once the nacelle arrives at Maasvlakte during the summer, GE Renewable Energy said.
The Haliade-X 12 MW nacelle is currently being assembled in Saint-Nazaire, France, and its 107-metre long blades are being manufactured at LM Wind Power site in Cherbourg, France.
The prototype turbine will be installed onshore to facilitate collection of data during the initial period of operations which is needed to obtain the Type Certificate in 2020 and ship first commercial units in 2021.
Back in June, GE Renewable Energy announced that the Haliade-X 12 MW nacelle and the 107-metre blade will be shipped to ORE Catapult’s testing facilities in Blyth, UK, as part of an advanced technology testing programme that will focus on enhancing the platform before it enters into serial production.