wind turbine
Julie Hambleton
Julie Hambleton
February 20, 2021 ·  2 min read

Huge Wind Turbine With 350-Foot Blades Can Power A Home For Two Days With One Turn

Around the world, countries are investing more and more into sustainable energy sources. Engineers and scientists are creating brand-new innovations, as well as making improvements to existing ones. This huge wind turbine from General Electric is making its way to the United States. It is so big, it can power a home for two days with just one single turn. (1)

The Huge Wind Turbine Coming to North America

British company General Electric (GE) created a huge wind turbine called the Haliade-x. To say this turbine is massive is an understatement: At 260m (853 feet) tall, it’s nearly the same height as the Eiffel Tower. The rotor is a whopping 220m (722 feet) in diameter. Each one can power a house for two full days after just one turn. (2)

These huge wind turbines are making their way across the Atlantic to American shores. The Vineyard 1 Project will consist of several Haliade-x turbines 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. They project it will begin operations sometime in 2023 and will power around 400,000 New England homes. (1)

Read: Jimmy Carter built a solar farm in his hometown and it now powers half of the entire city

Why So Big?

Each blade on the Haliade-x is 107m (351 feet) long. The biggest by far in today’s market, they have the capacity to capture 45% more energy than any other wind turbine. Not only that, but its size makes it function better when winds aren’t as strong and the blades spin at slower speeds. This makes them more predictable than older models. (2)

Finally, because these huge wind turbines can produce so much energy, we don’t need as many of them. This significantly cuts down on the cost of building and installation. (2)

The Vineyard 1 project has the capacity to produce 800 megawatts (MW) of power. This is impressive, but it is still not near the 3.6 gigawatt capacity of the UK’s Dogger Bank Project. (1)

What Makes The Haliade-x So Special?

The bigger rotor combined with the longer blades and higher capacity of the Haliade-x makes this huge wind turbine less sensitive to daily wind speed variations. Just one of these turbines can generate up to 74GW of energy each year. This makes each one capable of saving 52,000 metric tons of CO2 annually, the equivalent of 11,000 vehicles off the road. (2)

The Haliade-x saves money as well as carbon emissions. A single wind farm needs fewer turbines; the turbines have reduced cycle times and simplified operations. Overall, they are much more cost-effective than traditional wind farms. This doesn’t even include how much more powerful one full spin of the blades generates. (2)

Though it will be a few years before we can truly see the impact of the Vineyard 1 Project and its huge wind turbines, it is definitely an exciting step towards making the planet a more sustainable place.

Keep Reading: Worried about Earth’s future? Well, the outlook is worse than even scientists can grasp

Sources

  1. Massive 853-foot-tall wind turbines are coming to America’s East Coast.” New Atlas. Loz Blain. December 06, 2020.
  2. Haliade-X offshore wind turbine.” GE.