Offshore Wind

The bigger the wind turbine, the better the production and the economics. Hence, they're scaling up to ludicrous proportions.

Energy

World's biggest wind turbine shows the disproportionate power of scale

China's MingYang Smart Energy has announced an offshore wind turbine even bigger than GE's monstrous Haliade-X. The MySE 16.0-242 is a 16-megawatt, 242-meter-tall behemoth capable of powering 20,000 homes per unit over a 25-year service life.

A single Windcatcher floating offshore grid could power 80,000 European homes at grid-parity prices

Energy

1,000-foot multi-rotor floating Windcatchers to power 80,000 homes each

Norway's Wind Catching Systems has made a spectacular debut with a colossal floating wind turbine array it says can generate five times the annual energy of the world's biggest single turbines – while reducing costs to be immediately competitive.

A render of GE's floating wind turbine concept

Energy

GE designs massive floating turbine to take wind energy into deep water

GE is looking to unlock the potential of far offshore wind installations through the development of massive turbines that can operate in deeper waters, using advanced floating platforms to keep them steady as waves crash around them.

A prototype of GE's Haliade-X turbine, which will be used in the US' first large-scale offshore wind farm

Energy

US approves 800-MW Vineyard Wind as its first major offshore wind farm

The US federal government has given the green light to the country's largest offshore wind farm to date, and one that will greatly expand its capacity to generate this form of renewable energy by adding 800-MW to the mix.

The Vestas V236-15.0 MW offshore turbine will go into prototyping in 2022, followed by serial production in 2024

Energy

Vestas reveals offshore turbine with world's largest sweep

Denmark's Vestas is looking to become an industry leader in offshore wind, and has introduced the V236-15.0 MW turbine to take the fight to GE. The new design's blades offer the largest swept area in the world.

The NortH2 wind-to-hydrogen project will use a 10-gigawatt offshore wind farm to power an electrolysis plant for the production of clean hydrogen

Energy

Big energy partners join Shell's giant NortH2 wind-to-hydrogen project

Oil giant Shell is planning the biggest wind-to-hydrogen project in Europe, a colossal 10-gigawatt offshore wind farm in the North Sea feeding a massive electrolysis plant on dry land that'll pump out a million tonnes of clean H2 a year by 2040.

The Haliade-X turbines stand 260 meters (853 ft) tall, and will feature as part of the US' first large-scale offshore wind farm

Energy

Massive 853-foot-tall wind turbines are coming to America's East Coast

America's first "commercial scale" offshore wind energy project has decided to use GE's colossal Haliade-X turbines, the world's largest. Standing as tall as an 85-story building, with 722-foot rotors, each one is a 12-13 MW generator.

The BladeBUG robot crawls across turbine blades using its vacuum-padded feet

Robotics

Robot crawls across wind turbine in world-first off-shore "blade walk"

As renewable energy grows in popularity around the world, efforts to cut costs and increase its appeal in every way possible continue, and a bug-inspired six-legged robot may have an important part to play in this.

Offshore wind farms have the potential to alter the behavior of migrating fish according to a new study

Science

Offshore wind farms could become stopover points for migrating fish

A study by the University of Maryland indicates that new offshore wind farms being constructed on the Delaware-Maryland-Virginia coastal shelf could become a stopover spot for migrating Atlantic salmon and striped bass.

The Dogger Bank Wind Farm will make use of GE Renewable's Haliade-X, the world's most powerful wind turbine

Energy

Works begin at Dogger Bank, the world's largest off-shore wind farm

The waters surrounding the UK have long played home to some of the world's most ambitious renewable energy projects, and they are set to welcome another with construction now underway at Dogger Bank, the world's largest off-shore wind farm to be.

Energy

World's largest offshore wind turbine to be developed in the UK

Last month, GE unveiled its plan to build the world's largest, most powerful offshore wind turbine, known as the Haliade-X. This Tuesday, it was announced that the rig will be tested and developed over the next five years, at the UK’s Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult research center.

Hywind Scotland, the world's first floating wind farm, has just been fired up

Energy

World's first floating wind farm powers up off Scotland

Offshore wind farms can tap into the higher average wind speeds over the ocean, but can only be built in relatively shallow water. Floating turbines can help harvest wind energy from above deeper waters, and now the world’s first floating wind farm has just fired up off the coast of Scotland.