In a cavernous testing facility on England’s windswept northeast coast, engineers are thrashing a 50-ton, multimillion-dollar wind turbine blade around like a giant sword—on purpose.
The blade is being tested to destruction at the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (ORE Catapult) in Blyth. It tells one small part of the story of the energy transition. This is the facility that tested General Electric's massive Haliade-X wind turbine—part of a new generation of supersized turbines that are transforming the economics of clean energy. Right now, almost 200 of these behemoths are being deployed at Dogger Bank, 100 miles out to sea. On completion, it will be the largest wind farm in the world, capable of powering 6 million homes.
