A prototype wind turbine has recorded an extraordinary single-day renewable energy production total, bringing in a massive 359 megawatt-hours in a 24-hour time period. To get there, it had to operate over its rated capacity, essentially all day long.
The Siemens Gamesa SG 14-222 DD is one of the world's biggest wind turbines, equalling the 14-MW nominal capacity of GE's biggest Haliade-X turbines, and only just trailing behind the giant 15-MW Vestas rigs and the world's outright offshore champion, the monstrous MingYang 16 MW.
Slated for serial production in 2024, the SG 14-222 DD uses three colossal 108-meter (354-ft) blades, creating a 39,000-sq-m (420,000-sq-ft) swept circle. And while it's nominally rated at a 14 MW capacity, it offers a "power boost" function that can take energy production up to 15 MW.
This power boost function, according to Siemens Gamesa Senior Product Manager Peter Esmann, monitors site-specific conditions and stays active about 98% of the time, only shutting down in storm-force winds or excessive turbulence, at which point the turbine's capacity drops back to 14 MW. While it's designed for offshore deployment, this prototype was built on land, at the end of 2021 in Østerild, Denmark, and that's where it's achieved its production record.
The reported daily total is just 1 MWh short of the theoretical maximum 360 MWh this turbine would harvest if it ran at its peak capacity for 24 hours straight. So it must've been an absolutely perfect day. The 359 MWh it managed would supply the daily energy used by 12,414 average US homes.
Check out this monster turbine being installed in the video below, including several gratuitous "driving a massive turbine blade down a road" shots.
Source: Siemens Gamesa (twitter)