The Economic Challenges of Rotor Blade Development

The European commission remains committed to a target of 20% of Europes energy being produced from renewable energy sources by 2020 (1). In December 2011 the commission published the communication Energy Roadmap 2050, which lays out a framework for member states as the EU works towards an 80-95% reduction in carbon emissions compared with 1990 levels. At the launch of the roadmap, the EU Energy Commissioner, Gnther Oettinger, called for mandatory targets to be discussed and agreed for 2030 over the next two years, as a step towards reaching decarbonisation by 2050. Wind energy is clearly the most likely contributor to renewable energy, and a substantial amount of development will be required in the coming years to move from the current 5% of the European electricity demand which is met by wind power, to the target of 20%. The size and scale of wind turbines will need to be increased significantly; the EU funded UpWind research project which produced its final report last year, concluded that turbines up to 20MW in size should be viable. However, with the development of such large turbines, and the blades to support them, comes with a variety of challenges. The technological challenges of designing, manufacturing and installing such large blades are also bound by the need for greater cost-efficiency; to aid the reduction of the price of electricity produced by wind power. Challenges of Blade development Despite currently being subsidised by the EU and protected by legislation that dictates the integration of renewable energy into the European grid, there will come a time when wind power industry will have to become self-sustainable. Larger blades and larger turbines will be capable of producing more electricity, which in theory should be cheaper for the consumer, but manufacturers are faced with the task of increasing the size of the blades without a dramatic increase in production costs. Larger blades also create several other issues which the industry must contend with if it is to achieve this aim.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------IQPC GmbH | Friedrichstr. 94 | D-10117 Berlin, Germany t: +49 (0) 30 2091 3330 | f: +49 (0) 30 2091 3263 | e: eq@iqpc.de | w: www.iqpc.de Visit IQPC for a portfolio of topic-related events, congresses, seminars and conferences: www.iqpc.de

The larger the blade, the more noise it will make; a particularly sensitive subject with onshore installations. Larger blades also create transportation problems, blades in excess of 50 metres are un-economical to transport, as the cost becomes too prohibitive. Manufacturing costs may increase due to extra costs of tooling, materials, and production of composite moulds. The extra load the wind will place on larger blades can have a knock-on effect to components within the nacelle, and fatigue and wear and tear problems must be ironed out during the design and testing process.

Colin Pawsey References: (1) http://ec.europa.eu/energy/energy2020/roadmap/index_en.htm (2) http://www.ewea.org/fileadmin/ewea_documents/documents/upwind/21895_ UpWind_Report_low_web.pdf (3) http://www.lmwindpower.com/Blades/Products/Blade%20summary/5000/LM %2061,-d-,5.aspx (4) http://www.henkel.com/henkel-headlines/news-12169-faster-rotor-bladebonding-thanks-to-new-technology-33595.htm

Want to know more about advances in wind rotor blades? Check out our Download Centre, where you will find more articles, white papers and interviews regarding this topic: http://bit.ly/rotor-blades

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------IQPC GmbH | Friedrichstr. 94 | D-10117 Berlin, Germany t: +49 (0) 30 2091 3330 | f: +49 (0) 30 2091 3263 | e: eq@iqpc.de | w: www.iqpc.de Visit IQPC for a portfolio of topic-related events, congresses, seminars and conferences: www.iqpc.de