GE Energy’s latest wind turbine technology, the 2.5xl wind turbine, is expected to add nearly 1,000 megawatts of wind-generated electricity in 2009 or enough to serve over 480,000 typical European households.

With a rotor diameter of 100 meters, the 2.5xl, according to the company, is the largest GE wind turbine available for onshore applications and was designed to meet the immediate requirements of Europe where the lack of available land can limit project size.

The 2.5xl machines for European projects was developed in Germany and will be supplied from GE Energy’s wind turbine manufacturing plants in Salzbergen, Germany and Noblejas, Spain.

Designed for IEC class II and class III, the 2.5 MW wind turbine can be deployed on over 85 percent of the sites being developed today, says GE.

The 2.5MW wind turbine also excels on sites that are constrained by environmental regulations. The 2.5 MWwind turbine can be equipped with various towers resulting in hub heights of 100 m, 85 m and 75 m, meeting potential tip height constraints and maximising energy yield.