The world's most powerful steam turbine will be installed at the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in England and will produce 3,2 GW of energy over the next sixty years

The most powerful steam turbine in the world will leave the giant General Electric factories in Belfort, to equip the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant, under construction, in the southwest of England. The world's largest rotor, associated with this turbine, has just been successfully tested, GE said in a statement. Take advantage of the fact that General Electric has more than 100 job openings in its factories in Brazil, click here to register your resume

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At 1,9 meters, the equipment named Arabelle will be the most powerful nuclear steam turbine in operation. “Inserted in a compensation shaft specially designed for large turbines, the 8-meter-wide module rotates at a speed of 1.500 revolutions per minute,” reported General Electric.

The purpose of a turbine, accompanied by an alternator, is to convert steam into electricity. Longer blades on the turbine wheel increase the power plant's electrical output, optimizing the "condenser vacuum", reducing "exhaust losses" and increasing "turbine efficiency", says GE.

50% of the world's turbine fleet

The world's most powerful steam turbine will be installed at the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in England, built by EDF Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of EDF in the United Kingdom. It will allow the production of 3,2 GW of energy over the next sixty years. The facility will be equipped with two EPR-type reactors.

The tested rotor is expected to be delivered to the factory in 2021. “This critical component of the turbine is an important milestone in this first quarter of 2021 for the Hinkley Point C project, achieved on time, despite the pandemic,” says Guillaume Callewaert, HPC program manager at EDF, quoted in the General Electric press release. In this contract, General Electric supplies and orders the two conventional islands of the two future EPR (turbine and alternator) and also provides engineering services. “At GE Steam Power, we are proud to be involved in such an important project,” says Frédéric Wiscart, Project Manager at GE Steam Power.

Earlier this year, EDF announced a delay in the construction of this factory, due to the covid-19 pandemic that delayed the 2020 construction site, launched in 2015. According to Le Monde, this project amounts to between 2026 and 25 billion euros.

World's most powerful steam turbine built by General Electric

The Arabelle turbine to be installed at Hinkley Point C will be the most powerful steam turbine in the world. General Electric, which bought this know-how from Alstom in 2015, is expected to contribute 20 GW of power over the next few years with this Arabelle steam turbine technology, “consolidating the Arabelle fleet to 53 GW worldwide”, concludes the press release. General Electric is responsible for 30% of the world's production of steam turbines, while 50% of the world's steam turbine fleet in operation is GE technology.