Alstom has announced the launch of its ECO 122 wind turbine, a 2.7MW onshore unit that is said to combine high power and high capacity factors to boost energy yield in low wind regions.
At a wind speed of 7.5 m/s the turbine delivers a net wind farm capacity factor of up to 42%, equivalent to 3600 full-load hours each year. Its 122 metre rotor diameter and swept area of 11 700 m2 – the largest in the 2 MW to 3 MW turbine segment – 'maximise the harvest of energy and the return on investment to create new business opportunities for customers from low wind sites'.
The unit is claimed to produce about 25% increased wind farm yield on a given piece of land compared with today's 1.5 - 2 MW turbines.Alfonso Faubel, senior vice president of Alstom’s wind business, said: “Research and innovation are at the heart of our business. [We} ...are leading the development of the new generation of high power, high-efficiency turbines to increase value for our customers. Longer blades capture more power more effectively, and with its swept area much larger than current generation machines, the ECO 122 has set a new standard for low wind sites around the globe.”
The ECO 122 is based on Alstom’s the ECO 100 turbine platform, which now has more than 350 MW installed or under construction worldwide and over 200 000 cumulative operating hours since 2008. It incorporates the Alstom 'PURE TORQUE' rotor support concept that protects the drive train from deflection loads.
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