GE Announces New Green 4.1-113 Offshore Wind Turbine

GE has announced a new wind turbine that will be used to generate power from harnessing the wind that flows heavily offshore. The new turbine is dubbed 4.1-113 wind turbine and it will see its first install in Gothenburg Harbor in the second half of 2011. The new wind turbine is a 4MW class turbine that is made to be reliable and survive harsh conditions.

The new turbine has fewer moving parts with direct-drive technology with integrated redundancy and partial operation for major components. The design is focused on optimizing reliability to be used at sea. Direct drive tech means there is no gearbox, which allows operating expenses to be lowered significantly.

The turbine also uses a new optimizes blade design to maximize the capture of power. The new turbine is an evolution of the 3.5MW turbines that GE already has in use. There are 16,000 of the 3.5MW turbines offshore gathering energy around the world today. The new turbine also has a 50% reduction in installation time and delivers 5% more energy per unit than comparable 3-4MW units.