Danish wind industry service provider PolyTech is to establish a lightning test centre in China to meet market demands.
The centre, which will specialise in performing lightning tests and is expected to open in the second quarter of 2022, will be the company’s first testing facility outside of Denmark.
PolyTech said that the site has been selected at the Sheyang Port Economic Development Zone in Jiangsu and construction will start in the first or second quarters of this year.
The facility will be 150 metres long in order to fit the longest turbine blades on the market and have a 24-metre high ceiling to allow future larger nacelles to be tested.
PolyTech said the establishment of a test centre in China comes as its aims to expand services closer to its customer base.
Lightning tests will be carried out using extra high-voltage and high-impulse currents to simulate all stages of a lightning strike.
The centre will also handle smaller tests on sub systems, parts and components.
All tests will be performed in accordance with the newest IEC standards, the company said.
PolyTech chief executive Mads Kirkegaard said: “As wind turbine manufacturers across the world are prototyping many new blades in China, our Danish-based lightning test centre is no longer the obvious choice when testing and certifying these new blade designs and LPS (lightning protection solutions).
“Establishing a lightning test centre in China therefore makes sense from an economical and sustainable point of view.
“With the increased complexity of lightning protection resulting from the transition to carbon, we want to ensure testing availability in the vicinity of the customers we are strategically partnering with regarding LPS.
“The Chinese test centre is therefore a natural next step for us.”