GE is to supply 31 of its 1.6-100 wind turbines to a wind project in Turkey, the first of the series to be installed in Europe.
GE's turbines are destined for Fina Enerji's Tayakadin wind project, a 50MW scheme under development near Istanbul. The wind turbines will be shipped from GE's Salzbergen facility in Germany by the end of 2012, with completion of the project expected by the first quarter of 2013.
Unveiling the order at EWEA 2012 in Copenhagen, GE said the turbine offers the "highest efficiency of any wind turbine in its class."
Stephan Ritter, general manager of GE's renewables arm in Europe, said: "Featuring a 100-meter rotor diameter and 80-meter hub height, the 1.6-100 provides the highest capacity factor of any wind turbine for class 3 sites."
GE said the 1.6MW technology was built on GE's broad experience developing its 1.5MW and 2.5MW series, of which there are 17,500 units installed across the world. The company said it anticipates installing more than 1,200 of the 1.6MW units in the United States within the next two years.
Turkey, which imports much of its energy, is keen to exploit its wind energy resource, estimated at around 48GW. Current wind capacity is pegged at around 1.8GW, but the Turkish government wants to increase the country's wind energy production to 20GW by 2023.
Tayakadin will be the third wind project to be developed by Fina Enerji in Turkey. The Turkish energy company currently has two other projects in operation in Izmir and Hatay, with a total capacity of 87.5MW, comprising 35 units of GE's 2.5-100 wind turbines. According to Fina, the company also has wind power projects with a total capacity of more than 200MW megawatts in the pipeline.
In addition to the turbines, GE will also supply commissioning and technical advisory services for the Tayakadin project, while Fina will do the installation and civil works of the project.
