Alstom Haliade prototype still waiting for grid connection

BELGIUM: The Alstom Haliade 6MW prototype turbine installed in Belgian waters is still awaiting a cable connection, months after being installed.

by Patrick Smith and Sara Knight 19 June 2014

The prototype was installed last October

The machine was put in place at the 165MW Belwin 2 offshore wind farm 45 kilometres off the Belgian coast back in October 2014. But Alstom managing director Renewables Germany Markus Rieck said at the Windforce offshore conference in Bremen that it is yet to supply any power to the grid.

Laying of the cables to connect the turbine to the grid will begin in July, he added, with the first power expected to be exported in August, ten months after installation was completed.

The Haliade at Belwin 2 is the first to be installed offshore, but Alstom has won a number of contracts to supply the turbine on a commercial scale. The company won the tender to supply the turbines for French offshore projects, the 480MW Saint Nazaire, 450MW Courseulles-sur-Mer and 498MW Fécamp.

It is also lined up to install five of the turbines at the Block Island project in the US.