Pioneering wind power
GE is known around the world for their innovative solutions in energy provision. The company prides itself on providing an expanding portfolio of products, services and integrated solutions for the energy industry, and has a growing focus on renewable energy solutions.

The company says that its “charter is to provide the technology and the ability for our customers to produce energy more reliably and efficiently, more cost effectively and with greater environmental awareness than ever before.” Over the past few years, GE has demonstrated an understanding that renewable energy will be an integral part of the global energy mix, and has committed resources to helping partners develop sound renewable energy solutions.

In fact, GE is one of the world’s leading wind turbine suppliers—you can find their turbines all over the globe, as the company currently has over 13,500 wind turbine installations. These turbines put in over 218 million operating hours and produce 127,000 GWh of energy. Facilities for manufacturing wind turbines are located in Germany, Norway, China, Canada and the United States.

The company builds wind turbines with rated capacities ranging from 1.5 to 4.0 megawatts, and GE helps to set up and operate the turbines when necessary. According to the company, their turbine technology features variable speed control, independent blade pitch for reduced loads, and “cost-effective operation and unique WindVAR electronics for local grid support and improved transmission efficiencies.” Wind turbines made by GE can remain online and feed power to the electric grid through system disturbances.

Moreover, GE is always looking towards the next step in renewable power solutions provision. The company recently acquired ScanWind, which for GE represents “an opportunity to increase our product offering to better serve the expanding offshore wind turbine segment.”

GE aims to grow their offshore wind capacity, and has thus developed the 4.0 MW offshore wind series platform. The company says:

“Over the coming decades, GE will apply this experience to the offshore wind industry as it matures, growing from a 1.5 GW installed based in 2008 to a forecasted 30 GW opportunity by 2020. Through the development, installation and operation of the Arklow wind farm, GE has gathered more than six years of experience and an understanding of what it takes to deliver and operate offshore wind turbines… lessons learned that have been instrumental in the development of GE’s new direct-drive technology, built for offshore applications.”

Products

1.5 MW Series Wind Turbine

With more than 13,500 units in operation worldwide, GE’s 1.5 MW turbine continues to be one of the world’s most widely used wind turbines in its class. The 1.5 MW machine is active yaw and pitch regulated with power/torque control capability and an asynchronous generator. It uses a bedplate drive train design where all nacelle components are joined on a common structure, providing exceptional durability. The generator and gearbox are supported by elastomeric elements to minimize noise emissions.

GE offers quality manufacturing, experienced power plant design and en-gineering, development expertise, creative financing options, experienced operations and maintenance and responsive and reliable customer service. Its wind technology has been used in world-class projects around the globe.

2.5 MW Wind Turbine

GE’s 2.5 MW wind turbine provides highly cost effective operation, especially at wind sites where space is limited. Designed for IEC class II and class III, the 2.5 MW wind turbine can be deployed on over 85% of the sites being developed today. Rated at 2.5 MW, it generates a leading amount of annual energy production and its 100m rotor also makes it an excellent solution for low wind sites. GE’s innovative and patented rotor blade technology provides the 2.5 MW wind turbine with very competitive acoustic performance. In fact, with the optional noise-reduced operation modes, the 2.5 MW wind turbine can be deployed even at sites with the most stringent noise restraints, while simultaneously maintaining a high energy yield. The 2.5 MW wind turbine can be equipped with various towers resulting in hub heights of 100m, 85m and 75m, meeting potential tip height constraints and maximizing energy yield.

see www.geopower.com for technical specifications