Alstom has generated the first kW of power from its next-generation 6MW Haliade 150 turbine installed at the Belwind offshore wind farm in Belgium.
Following the assembly and the tests conducted, the firm has been able to optimise the turbine’s installation and commissioning procedures at sea.
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Alstom intends to continue carrying out the tests in order to confirm how the machine behaves within a maritime landscape and to refine the operation and maintenance procedures further.
The next generation turbine will receive its final certification in the last quarter of 2014.
Alstom wind senior vice-president Yves Rannou said: "This project with Belwind asserts our technological leadership and our innovative abilities.
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"The installation of our turbine, which is robust and efficient, thus contributes in boosting the competitiveness of offshore wind energy."
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By GlobalDataThe turbine, which includes a 150m rotor featuring 73.5m blades, can offer 15% more yield than current offshore turbines, which in turn makes it capable of supplying electricity to an equivalent of around 5,000 households.
Due to a permanent magnet generator, the Haliade 150-6MW turbine operates even without a gearbox and has less mechanical parts inside the device, thereby making it reliable and reducing the operating and maintenance costs.
The wind turbine also features Alstom’s Pure Torque design, which optimises performance as it can safeguard the generator by diverting the unwanted mechanical pressure towards the tower.
The Haliade turbines will be manufactured in Alstom’s new wind turbine generator and nacelle plant at Saint-Nazaire harbour, France.
In the third quarter of 2013, Alstom shifted 150t of tooling and a few turbines under construction from the temporary workshop to the new facility, which is expected to become completely operational in early 2015.
The Haliade manufacturing facility is expected to create 1,000 direct jobs and 4,000 indirect jobs in France.
Alstom has won a contract for the supply of 238 Haliade 150-6MW wind turbines to a consortium headed by EDF-EN.
Image: Alstom’s Haliade offshore wind turbine. Photo: Jan de Nul ©mennomulderphotography/ © ALSTOM 2014.
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