Record-long blades

By Morten Andersen

From being a form of energy mostly of interest to environmentally-conscious people, wind power is now ready to take off. This is largely being achieved by building larger-scale wind turbines which deliver much more power in relation to the fixed asset investment in the wind farm.

The critical parameter is the length of the blade, and time after time Danish developers have broken their own records. LM Wind Power holds the current record for a mass-produced wind turbine blade with its 61.5 metre long LM 61.5 P2 blade, which is designed for 6 megawatt (MW) wind turbines. These blades have been used for the



Thornton Bank Offshore Wind farm, located 28 kilometres off the Belgian coast and operated by the German energy company RE power. LM Wind Power has also entered a contract with the energy company Alstom regarding the development of an even longer wind turbine blade. If the project succeeds, it will be the third time in a row that LM Wind Power has set the record.

The Danish company has its own wind tunnel where the new blades are tested. In common with numerous other Danish and international companies, LM Wind Power also collaborates with Denmark’s National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy, Risø DTU. The research centre has a special facility where the blades can be exposed to realistic loads. Wind turbine blades are exposed to enormous loads. The weight of the blade itself is a threat to the whole structure, and the wind has considerable strength at the heights that wind turbines are reaching today.

Risø DTU has been involved in the development of Danish wind power from the start, and has a great deal of experience in testing wind turbine blades under realistic conditions. In all there are 10 partners in the research centre’s facility for testing wind turbine blades: Vestas Energy Systems, LM Wind Power, SSP Technology, DON G Energy, DNV, Blaest, Hexcel, Baumer, DLR and Swerea Sicomp.

Risø DTU also operates sites in Denmark where the companies can test their new wind turbines at full scale.

This article is from Focus Denmark Magazine, June 2011