Voodin Blade Technology has completed the prototype installation of its 19-metre wooden wind turbine blades.
The blades are installed on an existing wind turbine in Breuna, Germany.
Using laminated veneer lumber (LVL) as a material is more sustainable than current materials, said Voodin.
LVL enables “noticeably better recycling of decommissioned blades, a high level of automation – which is not possible with current materials – and more flexibility”.
Today, wind turbine blades are made of fiberglass and carbon fibre-bound together with epoxy resin, a material that is difficult and expensive to break down.
Voodin Blade Technology’s LVL wooden wind turbine blades use a more sustainable raw material than the currently used composite materials.
The fibreglass and epoxy resin cannot be reused, meaning the material will go to waste after the blade is decommissioned.
“At the end of their lifecycle, most blades are buried in the ground or incinerated.
“This means that-at this pace-we will end up with 50 million tonnes of blade material waste by 2050.
“With our solution, we want to help green energy truly become as green as possible,” said Tom Siekmann, CEO at Voodin Blade Technology.
Voodin Blade Technology uses CNC milling machines that are particularly effective in creating complex 3D shapes.
This allows for a high level of automation, as no mould is needed in the manufacturing plants.
The CNC milling also enables more flexibility because the technology can be used for manufacturing any type of blade.
“We have conducted hundreds of laboratory tests during the past two years to perfect the blade material.
“According to all our tests, our blades are even more durable than the existing fiberglass blades, as they show fewer fatigue characteristics and are proven to endure all kinds of onshore weather conditions extremely well,” said Jorge Castillo, Co-Founder at Voodin Blade Technology.
Voodin is building new prototypes, including bigger 60-metre and 80-metre blades, as a next step.