At-height wind turbine operation and maintenance specialist Rope Partner formed a new partnership with Scottish firm Edge Solutions to install a new type of turbine blade protection. Armour Edge is a protection shield that uses thermoplastic material created specifically for wind turbine blades. The shields are operating successfully at a number of offshore wind farms…
Portuguese startup is developing safer wind turbine blade maintenance measures
Eptune Engineering has developed a series of innovations to improve wind turbine blade access and repair in harsh meteorological conditions. Wind turbine blades are one of the more costly components to maintain. The inspection and maintenance are commonly made by ropes or via suspended aluminum platforms that allow access to the wind blades. These activities…
Siemens Gamesa establishes blade facility in Virginia for 2.6-GW offshore project
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy will establish an offshore wind turbine blade facility in Virginia for the emerging U.S. offshore market. Siemens Gamesa will develop more than 80 acres/32 hectares at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal in Portsmouth, Virginia, upon execution of a firm order for the 2.6-GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Commercial Project with Dominion Energy.…
Siemens Gamesa ready to deploy world’s first 100% recyclable wind turbine blades
Siemens Gamesa has released the RecyclableBlade, the world’s first recyclable wind turbine blades ready for commercial use offshore. With this technology, separation of the materials in the blade is possible at the end of its lifetime, enabling recycling into new applications. The first six 81-m long RecyclableBlades have been produced at the Siemens Gamesa blade…
EDP Renewables begins repowering project on Oklahoma wind farm
EDP Renewables North America (EDPR) has initiated its first North American repowering construction proceedings at the Blue Canyon II Wind Farm in Oklahoma. The repowering of Blue Canyon II, which is located in Caddo and Kiowa counties and is part of a four-phase project, ensures significant economic benefits and affordable energy will continue with the…
NREL uses VABS software for complex wind turbine blade simulation
Composite modeling software provider AnalySwift announced that the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has used its VABS blade simulation tool in two recent projects. The software is used to generate accurate blade properties. Modern wind turbine blades can be 100-m or longer with dozens of separate layers of advanced composite materials.…
New Hexcel wind blade surface technology reduces manufacturing time
Hexcel is pleased to announce its latest HexPly XF surface technology that significantly reduces shell manufacturing time within the wind blade surface finishing process. HexPly XF increases overall blade manufacturing efficiency by reducing time in the mold by up to two hours and by banishing surface defects that require rework before painting. As the surge in…
NREL validates thermoplastic resin for wind blades that is easier to recycle
A new material for wind blades that can be recycled could transform the wind industry, rendering renewable energy more sustainable than ever before while lowering costs in the process. The use of a thermoplastic resin has been validated at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Researchers demonstrated the feasibility of thermoplastic resin by manufacturing a…
Using long-lasting composites for increased blade lengths
By Dag Kirschke, Wind Energy Segment Owner, Exel Composites The demand for wind energy is increasing. It’s clean, cost effective and sustainable. As environmental and climate change concerns are influencing a greater need for renewable and sustainable energy, wind turbines are a substantial part of the solution — with over 340,000 wind turbines in the…
AEROX brings leading-edge protection system for wind turbine blades
The company AEROX has just brought to market its leading edge protection system for wind turbine blades. 20 months of work have been necessary to scale up the manufacturing and application processes of AEROX AHP LEP System, the innovative solution of the company for the protection against erosion of the leading edge of wind turbine…
How composite materials influence blade sizes and functions
An interview with Stephen Nolet, PE, senior director of innovation and technology, TPI Composites TPI Composites is a global, independent manufacturer of composite wind blades for the onshore and offshore wind market. The company is headquartered in Arizona and operates factories in the United States, China, Mexico, Turkey and India. TPI has worked with a…
GE Renewable Energy testing blade for new 12-MW turbine
GE Renewable Energy and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) announced the arrival of a blade that is part of the most powerful offshore wind turbine in the industry at MassCEC’s Wind Technology Testing Center (WTTC) in Boston. The 107-meter blade will undergo a series of fatigue tests that involve moving it millions of times…
GE’s Haliade-X 12-MW turbine blade ready for testing
GE Renewable Energy confirms that the blade for for Haliade-X 12-MW wind turbine has arrived at ORE Catapult’s testing facilities in Blyth in the North East of England. The blade features a 220-meter rotor, a 107-meter blade — the longest ever manufactured. In the next year, the LM Wind Power blade will undergo a full…
Aquanis wins grant to develop lightning-protection coating for turbine blades
Aquanis has won a $1-million Phase II SBIR grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a new blade coating that reduces the damage to wind-turbine blades caused by lightning. The award comes on the heels of a $3.5-million grant Aquanis received last year from the DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), to develop…
GE recruiting 200 employees for its blade manufacturing facility in France
GE Renewable Energy announced plans to recruit more than 200 employees at its LM Wind Power wind-turbine blade manufacturing site in Cherbourg, France. So far, 60 out of the 200 employees have been recruited and just began intensive training at the factory’s Center of Excellence. Opened in April 2018, the Cherbourg facility became the first…
Mita-Teknik launches new wind-turbine blade pitch system
Mita-Teknik, a global provider of wind-turbine control and pitch technology, has launched its next-generation of blade pitch system for onshore and offshore wind turbines. The new Mita Pitch System has been designed to effectively minimize O&M costs, reduce downtime, and improve productivity. The Mita Pitch System is a flexible pitch solution for turbines up to…
World’s biggest offshore wind turbine prepared for testing
GE Renewable Energy has confirmed that the Haliade-X 12-MW nacelle and 107-meter-long blade will be shipped to the UK as part of an advanced technology testing program that will focus on enhancing the Haliade-X platform before it enters into serial production in 2021. The turbine’s nacelle will undergo a program that will replicate real-world operational…
GE ships tower sections for Haliade-X 12-MW prototype
GE Renewable Energy announced the shipment of the four tower sections that will be part of GE’s Haliade-X 12-MW prototype to be installed later this summer in Maasvlakte-Rotterdam (NL). The four segments at tower manufacturer GRI’s site in Seville, will be arriving in the Netherlands before the end of the month. Upon arrival in Rotterdam,…
Robowind developing robotic tools for turbine blade O&M
Robowind, LLC announced that it has worked with Professors Praveen Shankar and Mahdi Yoozbashizadeh from California State University to develop robots and robotic tools for wind-turbine blade maintenance. This includes installation of turbine blade performance enhancements and improvements. Robotic capabilities in development include inspection, cleaning, sanding, blade repair, painting, performance coatings, installation of vortex generators,…
Detecting ice on wind-turbine blades
The estimated market potential for wind farms in cold climates is more than 200 GW, according to Clir Renewables, a renewable energy AI software company. However, cold-weather climates present unique challenges to wind operators and O&M technicians. For example, icing events on wind-turbine blades may lead to increased loads and reduced aerodynamics, increasing the risk…