ETI was set up to advance renewables technologies to help meet the country’s 2020 targets and was appointed by the government in 2011 to look at developing blade technology.
The investment aims to enable the UK-company to develop some of the largest rotor blades for future 8-10MW turbines, and the design should contribute towards further reducing the lifecycle cost of wind energy.
The project aims to develop prototype blades by late 2014, with the first structural testing of the blades to be carried out at a UK test facility.
The first stage focuses on the blade design in collaboration with a major turbine manufacturer and, in addition, to extend Blade Dynamics’ current experience from manufacturing 49-metre long blades.
The blade has successfully completed full structural testing for GL certification at the NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) test facility in Boston, USA.
The second project stage aims to establish the proposed manufacturing processes for blades for a current 6MW turbine. Final project stages include testing and verifying prototype blade performance against predicted performance.
Similar to the smaller blade, Blade Dynamics will construct the 80-100 metre-long modular-built blades with carbon-fibre incorporated in the load-carrying spar structure. These blades are claimed to be 40% lighter than conventional blades of similar length but built in glass-fibre composite. A 75-metre long blade fitted on a 6MW Siemens turbine in 2012 is currently the world’s longest in operation.
The investment aims to enable the UK-company to develop some of the largest rotor blades for future 8-10MW turbines, and the design should contribute towards further reducing the lifecycle cost of wind energy.
The project aims to develop prototype blades by late 2014, with the first structural testing of the blades to be carried out at a UK test facility.
The first stage focuses on the blade design in collaboration with a major turbine manufacturer and, in addition, to extend Blade Dynamics’ current experience from manufacturing 49-metre long blades.
The blade has successfully completed full structural testing for GL certification at the NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) test facility in Boston, USA.
The second project stage aims to establish the proposed manufacturing processes for blades for a current 6MW turbine. Final project stages include testing and verifying prototype blade performance against predicted performance.
Similar to the smaller blade, Blade Dynamics will construct the 80-100 metre-long modular-built blades with carbon-fibre incorporated in the load-carrying spar structure. These blades are claimed to be 40% lighter than conventional blades of similar length but built in glass-fibre composite. A 75-metre long blade fitted on a 6MW Siemens turbine in 2012 is currently the world’s longest in operation.
