Earlier this year, Alstom – a global leader in the world of power generation and transmission – announced that it was to build four new factories in France. In today’s uncertain economic environment, it could be perhaps considered a brave move, but with production of the Haliade 150 at the beating heart of the expansion, it all starts to make sense. PES analyses a turbine that’s leading a quiet revolution in Europe.
The four new factories will be built Cherbourg and Saint-Nazaire, and will produce approximately 240 turbines for the EDF EN consortium, which has won three projects in the tender launched by the French government to
install offshore wind turbines generating 3 GW of wind power off the coast of France.
For Alstom, this project represents a total order amount of over €2 billion, which will be booked over a period of several years. The company will create 1,000 direct jobs and 4,000 indirect jobs by setting up the factories and
invest €100 million in France’s offshore wind industry. In short: it’s a success story that’s being written right now.
Uncompromising offshore reliability
The company has built upon its ALSTOM PURE TORQUE technology for drive train reliability to develop a 6MW direct-drive wind turbine that is eminently suitable for all offshore conditions. Proven technology and innovation are combined to deliver market-leading cost-efficiency in the industry’s most challenging environment: offshore.
The entire wind turbine is air-cooled and pressurised. Construction materials and protection treatments are specifically designed for offshore environments. For example, heat exchangers and pressuring units prevent salty air entering while dehumidifiers prevent corrosion of components inside the wind turbine.
Technical overview
The Haliade 150-6MW is a three-bladed upwind wind turbine that operates at
variable speeds, with a 150m diameter rotor and a rated power of 6MW.
The turbine has been designed following Class I-B specifications of the standards IEC-61400-1 / IEC-61400-3 and is suitable for sites with a reference wind speed of 50m/s (10-minute average) and a 50-year extreme gust speed of 70m/s (3-second average).
