The new turbine is called the Heliade 6.0-150, in reference to its capacity and its 150-meter rotor. The company confirms the work on the first prototype is being carried out at the port of Saint Nazaire, in the Pays de la Loire region, one of two sites chose by the company to set up its offshore industrial bases for the French offshore market, currently pending the resolution of a 3GW call to tender launched earlier this year. The other site is the port of Cherbourg.
"We now have all the main components for the prototype ready for mounting," Alstom said. It was the delivery of the yaw and pitch bearings supplied by local firm Rollix, that alerted Energías Renovables to the ongoing work. The bearings measures 4 meters in diameter and will support the loads from blades measuring 73.5 meters in length; the longest in the industry, according to LM Wind Power which has designed and is making the blades by special agreement with Alstom.
Alstom itself claims the Heliade to be the biggest permanent magnet, direct drive offshore turbine. The company aims to gear up production to commercial scale before the end of 2014.
For additional information:
www.alstom.com
www.rollix.com
