GE Power Conversion is providing its 4 MW fully fed LV3 wind turbine converters for Shanghai Electric Wind Power Equipment Co. Ltd.’s (Sewind) offshore turbines.
The units, totaling 1 GW of installed capacity, will be manufactured at GE’s Shanghai, China, factory. GE will also be providing service and maintenance.
GE says its LV3 converters, ideal for offshore wind farms, feature LV3 power stacks, which offer a high power density: Compared to a converter of the same footprint, the GE unit delivers 25% more power output.
As wind turbines grow in size, explains GE, a single wind turbine can capture more power and drive down the levelized cost of energy. Similarly, converters are evolving in order to match this power increase. However, more power does not necessarily call for bigger converters, especially in the offshore space, where a smaller footprint is a valuable attribute, says GE.
“In a fast-growing wind market like China, GE is proud to provide one of the biggest Chinese offshore operators with reliable solutions, which will be made in China for China,” comments Sofia Sauvageot, global sales leader for wind applications at GE Power Conversion. “We believe that this is a beginning of a long and successful relation between Sewind and GE.”
