World's biggest wind turbine that is taller than CANARY WHARF and can generate power for 16,000 homes will be tested off the British coast in 2020

General Electric has signed a five-year agreement with the UK government

It will test its 853ft turbine, called Haliade-X 12, in Blyth, Northumberland

It is nearly 150ft taller than the largest wind turbines currently in operation 

It will also be the most powerful in the world - its 12 megawatt output will be able to generate clean power for 16,000 homes

The world's largest wind turbine is set to be tested in ‘extreme conditions’ off the coast of Britain in 2020.

At 853ft from base to the top of its rotor, the turbine is taller than the One Canada Square office block at Canary Wharf, in London - which is 774ft high.

It has a diameter longer than two football pitches and is more than two and a half times taller than Big Ben.

It will also be the most powerful in the world - its 12 megawatt output will be able to generate clean power for 16,000 homes.

At 853ft from base to the top of its rotor, the turbine is taller than the One Canada Square office block at Canary Wharf, in London - which is around 770ft high. This graphic shows its relative height compared with London landmarks

Manufacturer General Electric has signed a five-year agreement with the government to test the turbine, called Haliade-X 12, off Blyth, Northumberland.

The turbine is nearly 150ft taller than the largest wind turbines currently in operation, installed at Vattenfall’s windfarm off the coast of Aberdeen, Scotland, which are 626ft high and generates 9 megawatts. 

GE believes its 350 foot (106 metres) turbines will improve efficiency by producing more power from lower wind speeds through its mammoth wingspan.

Britain is aiming to be a leader in offshore wind technology and its capacity could grow by five times current levels to 30 gigawatts by 2030, according to a report funded by a range of industry participants.

WHAT ARE THE SPECIFICATIONS OF THE HALIADE-X ? 

 Power

 Rotor Diamater

 Blade Length

 Rotor Swept Area

Total Height 

Capacity Factor  

12 MW

720 feet (220 metres)

351 feet (107 metres) 

410,000 feet² (38,000m²)

830 feet (260 metres)

63% 

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With a diameter longer than two football pitches, the turbine could be the future of renewable energy in the Uk

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Called the Haliade-X, the 12 megawatt (MW) turbine will be the focal point of a five-year research and development project that is due to start later this year. It will be the biggest wind turbine ever built 

John Lavelle, president of GE’s Offshore Wind business said: ‘This is an important agreement because it will enable us to prove Haliade-X in a faster way by putting it under controlled and extreme conditions.’

Britain’s energy and clean growth minister Claire Perry welcomed the agreement and said it highlights Britain’s world class research and testing facilities at the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult in Blyth, where new power technologies are tested.

She said ‘Through our industrial strategy, we are making the UK a global leader in renewables, including offshore wind, with more support available than any other country in the world.’

The facility in the north-east of England was chosen as it has the capacity to test and replicate conditions for wind turbines up to 15MW. The biggest turbines in existence currently reside off the coast of Aberdeen 

Companies have been building larger turbines to help get more power from each turbine installed and drive down the cost of the electricity they produce.

The agreement also includes a £6million ($8.3 million) combined investment from Britain’s Innovate UK and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to install the world’s largest and most powerful grid emulation system at the Catapult’s Blyth centre.

The UK gets around a quarter of all wind power investment made across Europe.

RenewableUK’s Executive Director Emma Pinchbeck said: ‘Today’s agreement is another vote of confidence in the UK as the home of ground-breaking offshore wind technology and in the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult as a global test centre.’

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The ORE Catapult's facilities in the north-east of England was chosen as it has the capacity to test and replicate conditions for wind turbines up to 15MW

HOW ARE WINDS CREATED?

To understand what makes the wind blow, we first need to understand what atmospheric pressure is.

Pressure at the earth's surface is a measure of the 'weight' of air pressing down on it. The greater the mass of air above us, the higher the pressure we feel, and vice-versa.

The importance of this is that air at the surface will want to move from high to low pressure to equalise the difference, which is what we know as wind.

So wind is caused by differences in atmospheric pressure - but why do we get these differences? It's down to the rising and sinking of air in the atmosphere.

Where air is rising we see lower pressure at the earth's surface, and where it's sinking we see higher pressure.

In fact, if it weren't for this rising and sinking motion in the atmosphere then not only would we have no wind but we'd also have no weather.

This rising and sinking of air in the atmosphere takes place both on a global scale and a local scale.