GE Renewable Energy has introduced Sierra, its newest onshore wind turbine platform designed specifically for the North America region. The 3.0-3.4MW turbine features a 140-metre rotor and is offered with a variety of hub heights, including a <500’ option. Sierra also includes GE’s revolutionary two-piece blade, designed to improve logistics, installation and serviceability. The business has currently received more than 1GW of orders for the turbine platform.
Sierra is built on the legacy of GE’s 2MW 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.
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 100MW compared to 2MW)
- GE’s revolutionary two-piece blade for reduced logistics, improved site installation and improved serviceability
- Simplified machine head & electrical system, built off GE’s 2MW 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
- 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
- Serviceability enhancements, including machine head material handling system with 400kg capacity, crane-less repair technology and rear-entry hub accessibility.
