GE Renewable Energy has presented the prototype of the Cypress platform, the company’s largest onshore wind turbine. Successfully installed in Wieringermeer, the Netherlands, the prototype is at full capacity producing at a maximum ratio of 5.3 MW of energy. For GE this is a milestone in the marketing of this unit, capable of reducing the cost of electricity and offering greater flexibility for the location of the wind turbines.
The prototype for the Cypress 5.3 MW platform was installed at the end of 2018 and produced its first kilowatt in February 2019. GE Renewable Energy will continue operating with the prototype during the next months to validate the performance of the Cypress platform. This test will also help in the process of obtaining the Type Certificate, a key step to marketing the product.
“We are confident that Cypress, with its innovative two-piece blades design will constitute a revolutionary change for the industry”
Jérôme Pécresse, CEO of GE Renewable Energy, has noted the important advance that this wind turbine means for the company itself, in particular, as for the industry in general: “We are most pleased with the progress that our team has been able to achieve to provide the market a high-tech turbine in record time. We are confident that Cypress, with its innovative two-piece blade design, will be a revolutionary change for the industry, which is why our customers all over the world are equally enthusiastic about their potential to reduce costs and gain more flexibility in the installation of wind turbines “.
Cypress offers multiple power options and variable heights. This wind platform will reduce the cost of electricity by matching each wind turbine solution with the specific needs of the site where it is installed, which is essential as wind energy increasingly competes in price with other energy sources.
Cypress allows using larger rotors and installing turbines in a wider variety of locations
First introduced in September 2017, the Cypress wind platform is driven by a revolutionary design in its two-piece blades that allows larger rotors to be used and turbines to be installed in a wider variety of locations. The Annual Energy Production (AEP) improvements of the larger rotors help reduce the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE), and the patented design of the blades allows these larger turbines to be installed in locations that were previously inaccessible.
Duncan Berry, CEO of LM Wind Power, noted “the project has taken shape in a short period of time, which represents a high level of requirement”. Berry explained the process by which “we have created a new and effective solution for the two-piece blade prototype, which is based on the extensive experience of LM Wind Power engineers combined with the design of GE Renewable Energy and GE Research “. This technology is “the result of decades of experience and knowledge in blade manufacturing,” Berry concludes.
Comprehensive solutions of GE Renewable Energy
GE Renewable Energy combines one of the broadest portfolios in the renewable energy industry to provide comprehensive solutions to its customers. Combining terrestrial and marine wind energy, hydroelectric, large scale solar, energy storage and network solutions, as well as hybrid renewable energy and digital services, GE Renewable Energy has installed more than 400GW of clean renewable energy and equipped more than 90 percent of utilities around the world with their network solutions. With a turnover of 15,000 million dollars, GE Renewable Energy has almost 40,000 employees present in more than 80 countries.
