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Hybrid material used for world's longest blade

4C Offshore | Matthew White
By: Matthew White 22/03/2018 DTU Wind Energy
DTU Wind EnergyLM Wind Power has, in collaboration with the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), developed a new hybrid material which makes it possible to build the world’s largest wind turbine blades, for the "Blade King" project.

The collaboration project between LM Wind Power, Aalborg University, and DTU began in 2008 with the original aim to mass produce blades. DTU stated that this objective has since changed following a "financial crisis" and a "decline in demand" for wind technology. The project's new objective is to produce larger blades that remain competitive in the long run.

The change of direction meant that the researchers had to alter their focus from developing a material made from steel fibres and thermoplastic that was ideal for mass production to develop a material suitable for giant blades.

“You need more rigidity when building bigger blades. So we needed to develop a material that was both sufficiently rigid to enable the blades to bear their own weight and light enough for the wind turbine tower to carry them,”
says Senior Development Engineer Tom Løgstrup Andersen, DTU Wind Energy.

In collaboration with researchers from DTU Wind Energy, LM Wind Power, one of the world’s leading wind turbine blade producers, decided to try solve this problem. They successfully created three 88.4m long blades made from a mixture of carbon and glass fibres which were installed at a turbine test facility.

Carbon fibres have very high rigidity and low density. But they are also expensive and not very strong. In turn, glass fibres have higher density and are therefore heavier than carbon fibres. They are also stronger and have a markedly lower price. By mixing carbon and glass fibres to form a hybrid material in a highly specific way, the researchers have supposedly succeeded in developing a new, innovative, and competitive material.


“What’s interesting is that it’s normally never profitable to use carbon fibre, because it’s too expensive. But because our hybrid material is lighter than the standard material, it also puts less pressure on the entire wind turbine construction, and it reduces installation and transport costs,”
says Tom Løgstrup Andersen.

"With a blade of 88.4 metres, we’ve proved that we’re again a technological platform leader. And it’s perfectly possible to envisage this blade on a second model in the future. It’s also possible that we’ll produce blades which are even bigger."
stated Klavs Jespersen, Senior Project Manager, LM Wind Power

“Today, more customers are demanding larger offshore wind turbines than previously. They produce more power than small onshore wind turbines can produce, and they will thus be more competitive on a market that is seeing a constant decline in electricity prices. So we made the right decision,"
Klavs Jespersen added.

Since the turn of the millennium, the number of larger and more powerful offshore wind turbines has increased from 41 to 509. An increase of more than 1,000%.

“We’ve positioned ourselves as a technological leader in design of giant wind turbine blades, and we expect to capture a large chunk of the future energy market. The prestige that comes with this title is also important to our revenues when customers are looking for a supplier of large blades,”
says Klavs Jespersen. DTU claim there are many indications that customers will demand bigger blades in order to offer competitive electricity prices.


For more information please follow the links provided. You can also view offshore wind projects worldwide using
our interactive map.

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