The Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult is co-ordinating a new two-year project that aims to develop new offshore wind blade technologies.
The €4m Offshore Demonstration Blade (ODB) collaboration brings together 10 European partners to carry out research, development and demonstration of wind turbine blade innovations.
These innovations include aerodynamic and structural enhancements, blade monitoring systems and erosion protection solutions.
They will be developed and retrofitted to the ORE Catapult’s 7MW Levenmouth demo turbine in Scotland.
The Demowind-funded project also includes CENER, Bladena, TNO, Aerox, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, Total Wind, Dansk IngeniørService, the Technical University of Denmark and the Cardenal Herrera University in Spain.
ORE Catapult operational performance director Chris Hill said: “This project aims to develop a number of innovative technologies that have huge potential to further reduce the cost of offshore wind.
“Having a dedicated platform on which to demonstrate these technologies, the Levenmouth demonstration turbine, will improve our understanding of how they operate in real-world conditions and the impact they will have on blade performance, operations and cost of energy.”
Image: the Levenmouth turbine (ORE Catapult)
Catapult leads blade charge
Two-year project aims to develop innovative new technologies for turbines
By EBS