GE Renewable Energy has announced Sierra, its newest 3.0-3.4MW turbine platform featuring a 140-meter rotor onshore wind turbine and offered with a variety of hub heights, including a <500-feet option.

Sierra also includes GE’s revolutionary two-piece blade, designed to improve logistics, installation and serviceability. The business has currently received more than 1 GW of orders for the turbine platform.

GE has manufactured, installed and commissioned its first site of Sierra turbines, which exceeded 98% availability faster than GE’s previous onshore platform launches to date, and is operating with 4 points higher capacity factor, compared to GE’s 2 MW platform.

Sierra is built on the legacy of GE’s bestselling 2 MW platform, which recently surpassed 30 GW of installed base globally. The Sierra platform launched with two prototypes, one in Lubbock, TX and one in Kamataka, India, with more than a year of successful run time on each.

Pat Byrne, CEO for GE’s Onshore Wind business, said, “We are absolutely delighted to introduce our Sierra platform to the North America onshore wind industry-- the most tested and validated turbine in GE’s history. This is a turbine that was designed specifically for the future needs and unique challenges of the region, taking into account significant feedback and insights from our customers and wind farm developers. From siting to execution and operation, Sierra offers our customers continued quality and stability. Our installed base of Sierra turbines has recorded the highest reliability and availability in a GE turbine launch to date, and we couldn’t be happier with its performance and customer reception.”

Jason Cooper, North America CEO for GE’s Onshore Wind business, said: “GE’s Sierra platform will help our customers to capture even more wind energy while improving economics. We know that wind power is a key element of driving decarbonization and a dependable and affordable energy option, and we’re confident that Sierra will be a key part of the future landscape of wind turbines installed in the US in the coming years.”

GE’s Sierra platform includes a variety of key enhancements, including:

•    High-capacity factor turbines with reduced pads per site (+4 pts capacity factor with 15% less pads needed per 100 MW compared to 2 MW)
•    GE’s revolutionary two-piece blade for reduced logistics, improved site installation and improved serviceability
•    Simplified machine head & electrical system, built off GE’s 2 MW platform, including single main bearing, single piece down tower assembly (DTA), external pad mount transformer (PMT) and rail-shippable machine head – supporting ease of installation & serviceability
•    Optimized 3 & 4 section towers for ease of transport & installation, including 500’ tip height 81m tower option for FAA limited sites
•    Crane flexibility, optimized for readily-available 600-ton crane class to reduce cost & eliminate crane supply constraints; single blade & full rotor installation compatible
•    Variety of features & accessories to support diverse siting challenges, including bat acoustic deterrent, enhanced corrosion, noise reduction mode and more
•    Shared pitch bearing from GE’s legacy European platform fleet, with over a half decade of proven field operation
•    Groundbreaking serviceability enhancements, including machine head material handling system with 400kg capacity, crane-less repair technology and rear-entry hub accessibility. – TradeArabia News Service