Six renewables developers have teamed up to tackle wind turbine blade erosion by sharing data on how various leading edge protection systems perform in different conditions and geographies.
Project lead EDF Energy plus Duke Energy Renewables, Engie, Eon, Innogy and Kruger Energy have signed a partnership agreement to share data from leading edge protection system trials on wind farms around the world.
A minimum of three leading-edge protection systems will be compared and the data categories will include local atmospheric details such as wind speeds, rainfall and UV exposure, wind turbine type and time in operation.
Annual inspections will take place during the same season and reports will be fed into a central database controlled by the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (OREC).
Participants will use a standard inspection methodology to ensure consistency of the data that will be analysed by OREC.
“This project is a great opportunity to collaborate on an issue that most wind operators must tackle,” said EDF project leader Camelia Ben Ramdane.
“To be able to share this with partners operating windfarms all over the world, hence covering many environmental conditions, is a real benefit to all.”
The joint initiative is seeking new partners for the project from all onshore and offshore wind turbine suppliers and operators, including those who may already be performing trials on their wind farms.
For more information potential participants can get in touch with Camelia Ben Ramdane at camelia.ben-ramdane@edf.fr