GE Renewable Energy has been selected by Prowind GmbH to provide three Cypress units for the Elfershausen onshore wind project in Germany.
Prowind will operate three 4.8 MW Cypress turbines, which have a rotor diameter of 158 meters and a hub height of up to 150 and 161 meters. The split blades will be produced by LM Wind Power, a subsidiary of GE Renewable Energy, in Spain, and the blade tips will be installed on-site. The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.
The Cypress platform’s two-piece blade design is expected to reduce transportation costs and ease maneuvering across the forest of Bavaria, where the turbines will be installed. GE Renewable Energy will also provide a 20-year full-service agreement.
“It’s our first commercial order for Cypress, with multiple commitments in queue to follow, and a future of technology evolution and leadership ahead of us,” notes Peter Wells, GE Renewable Energy’s onshore wind CEO for Europe and SSA.
Johannes Busmann, CEO, founder and owner of Prowind, adds, “The Cypress platform is a great fit for the unique characteristics of the Elfershausen project, thanks to the flexibility it offers in the transportation and the installation of its components and blades. We are happy to be the first ones to install a Cypress with GE, and we are excited about this technology and where it can take us in our path towards driving down the levelized cost of electricity together.”
Prowind already has more than 55 MW of installed capacity using GE Renewable Energy equipment. The Cypress platform will add to the number of GE turbines, from 1.5 to 2.5 MW models, that have been powering Prowind sites for more than 10 years.
GE Renewable Energy launched the Cypress platform in September 2018 and installed a prototype in the Netherlands last month.
