Increases in the size of turbines come with a multitude of benefits, in particular helping drive down the cost of wind energy. Despite the benefits, GE has lagged behind competitors in the race to create the biggest turbine, with Danish company Vestas earning the top-spot with its V164, with a tip eight of 187m and 80m long blades, equivalent to nine double decker London buses. But a power rating of just 9.5MW, GE’s Haliade-X 12MW is set to dwarf Vestas’ turbine.

But new technology brings new challenges, so what will these gargantuan turbines face?

Wind speeds increase with altitude, thus the taller the turbine the faster it spins and the more energy it can generate. Furthermore, the wind is generally steadier higher up, easing power peaks and troughs and increasing reliability.

“A higher capacity factor makes Haliade-X less sensitive to wind speed variations (better predictability and ability to generate more power at low wind speeds), and can capture more annual energy production (AEP) than any other offshore wind turbine,” says Schellings.

Variability has been one of the main criticisms of renewable technologies, especially wind and solar power. The problem of downtime when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing has led many to deem such technologies unreliable, and to highlight the need for baseload generation through coal or nuclear.

So the increased capacity of the Haliade-X goes some way to alleviating this criticism. Taking advantage of all the wind available by harnessing the characteristically stronger and less variable winds higher up reduces the need to rely on expensive backups, such as batteries, adding to its cost effectiveness.

By increasing the size of the turbines and not the windfarms, maintenance and operation costs and any difficulties will also remain comparable with previous offshore projects. “With fewer machines and foundations to install, in addition to reduced cycle times and simplified operation, Haliade-X generates robust savings on overall project cost (CAPEX and balance of plant) over the life of a windfarm,” says Schellings.

This is based on wind conditions on a typical German North Sea site, although the final location for the Haliade-X demo is still uncertain.

The greater the height at which the turbine operates, the longer the possible blade length, which disproportionately increases the energy production. As blade length doubles, the amount of energy it can produce is four-fold, allowing for dramatic increases in capacity. GE believes that a 750GW windfarm of Haliade-X turbines could power one million homes.

While onshore turbines struggle with wider clearances, space out at sea is less of a premium. Therefore, despite being five times the size of the Arc de Triomphe, land costs do not hamper the cost-effectiveness of the turbines.

However, GE will undoubtedly face difficulties in the construction and installation of the monstrous Haliade-X. “The dimensions of a wind turbine of this size will be a first time in many ways, so we are getting prepared for that,” says Schellings.

As the turbine size increases so must its strength, to ensure the strong winds higher up are not its undoing. LM Wind Power has fifty years of experience building and testing turbine blades. At its testing and validation centre, storm conditions are simulated to put them through their paces. For its previous blades, this has included pulling a blade to and fro with the weight of 16 elephants, simulating wind forces of 100km per hour and conducting millions of bends to test for fatigue.

LM Wind Power has produced a fifth of all turbine blades in the world, at 205,000 already, and Haliade-X will mark its biggest project yet.

Beyond the physical problems to be faced by the Haliade-X project, there are broader issues going on in the energy industry. “With growth come challenges, specifically the challenge to compete with traditional sources of power generation, such as natural gas and coal, on a non-subsidized basis in auctions and RFPs around the world,” says Schellings.

“The development of the Haliade-X 12MW wind turbine will contribute to offshores challenges of decreasing the cost of energy in upcoming projects. Haliade-X will also contribute to offshores growing momentum.”

Despite successes seen in the development and deployment of wind power, it must constantly fight with other power sources to secure a market share. This may be hampered as countries, such as the UK, withdraw subsidies. In 2017, the UK Government announced there would be no further green energy subsidies beyond 2025.

And while it seems the benefits outweigh the hurdles of Haliade-X, and more broadly, larger turbines, just how big can they get? “Two decades ago we didn’t get much further than a 3MW machine with a 100m rotor, and that seemed too big at the time,” says Schellings. “Through technology development growth is always possible, but you need the right technology in order to do it cost-effectively.”

Haliade-X is undoubtedly set to be the tallest turbine in the world, but there are already plans to top it. A team led by the University of Virginia and funded by the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy, for example, is currently designing a turbine that would be capable of producing 50MW worth of energy. The ultra-large, two-bladed turbine, designed to mimic a palm tree’s ability to bend in the wind, could reach an incredible 500m-tall.

GE is hoping to have its first demonstration unit installed by 2019 and to begin shipping the Haliade-X by 2021.