Two European Projects Launched to Improve Wind Turbines

Renewable Energy World Editors
January 24, 2013 | 10 Comments

Two multiyear projects now being undertaken in Europe aim to improve the technology behind wind power generation: one seeks more efficient and cheaper ways to make the blades, and another wants to swap in a new generator to make the turbines smaller and lighter, and able to be scaled up in power output.

In Germany, the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy and Energy System Technology (IWES) has expanded a previous research project into finding ways to automate the manufacturing of rotor blades. Rotor blades make up about a quarter of the total cost of a wind turbine, much of that in manual labor; switching to large-scale industrial production could accelerate the process, improve the quality, while reducing costs. "Rotor blade producers are under great cost pressures which we will tackle with automation," states Florian Sayer of the Fraunhofer IWES.

The IWES and 18 partners are undertaking a five-year joint project, "BladeMaker," aiming to reduce production costs "by well over 10 percent." Work will begin with analysis of work processes and technologies involved in wind rotor blade production, then assessment of where automation might be a better option. For example, explains Sayer, current wind rotor blades are build with a "vacuum infusion process," in which two blade halves are reinforced with fiberglass or carbon-fiber matting (an almost completely manual process); a vacuum environment is created and resin injected to bond the materials, which after hardening are joined and varnished. At the end of the project a demonstration center will showcase the various process steps, and design research and development of rotor blade production.

The BladeMaker project, running until Sept. 2017, is funded with €8 million from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).

Update: In an email response, Sayer elaborated on the potential of reducing the reliance upon vacuum processes: "A huge potential lays in the optimization and automation of the composite material lay-up (fiber, tapes, foams, etc.) as well as in the mechanical finishing of the products," he said. One option is thermoplastic tape laying, which opens up the ability to weld the structures. Typical polymer systems with "wet layups," such as winding, are also possible but raise quality questions, he noted.

Meanwhile, in Spain, another multiyear project seeks to reduce the cost of offshore wind turbines by about 30% through the development of a new compact superconductor-based generator. The SUPRAPOWER project (SUPerconducting, Reliable, lightweight, And more POWERful offshore wind turbine) spearheaded by Tecnalia after four years of development on a patented concept, aims to design a 10-megawatt offshore wind turbine based on a superconducting generator. Conventional geared and direct-drive permanent magnet generators are difficult to scale up any bigger due to size and weight, which drives up costs for both fixed and floating foundations. Radically reducing the head mass "may be the only technology" able to provide better power scalability, weight reduction and reliability, according to Tecnalia.

Specific goals of the project, which began in December 2012 and runs through the end of November 2016, include: reducing turbine head mass, size, and ultimately cost of offshore wind turbines by about 30 percent, using the compact superconducting generator; realizing lower operating and maintenance and transportation costs through use of a direct drive system; and increasing the reliability and efficiency of high-power wind turbines through use of drive train-specific integration into the nacelle.

Most of the project's roughly €5.4 million budget will be funded by the European Commission as part of its Seventh Framework Program. Industrial partners in the SUPRAPOWER project include Acciona (wind turbine manufacturing and energy divisions), Columbus Superconductors (superconducting wire developer), Oerlikon-Leybold Vacuum (cryogenic systems), and D2M Engineering (offshore engineering firm). Research partners include the Institute of Electrical Engineering Slovak Academic of Sciences, University of Southampton, and Karlsruher Institut Technologie.

Lead image via Tecnalia

10 Comments

ken upton
February 7, 2013

Conroyt Is right! they SHOULD learn from the real gray hair old boys , that have been there ,done it ,and now how to do it better. In A.Y.R.S,LONDON YOU HAVE THE BEST DYNAMIC EXPERTS IN THE WORLD.
DON Q was right, the big WTs are monsters that many use,not to make money from the wind , but from the tax paying public. All of the honest people,WHO PAY !ONLY TO BE ROBED BY THIS CORRUPT INDUSTRY
Join ayrs.. it;s all at your finger tips ,and really learn about the wind and how to use it.

N

thomas conroy
February 7, 2013

A 10% reduction in cost over 5 years will not even keep the cost flat after inflation....the Institute's students should invite-in some of the gray-haired engineers in Germany and have them tell their stories about the unfulfilled promise of automation. It is inflexible. There are many blade technoloy-breakthrough concepts being worked on which have about a 98% probability of blowing any the gains proposed for this project. THINK BIGGER!

ken upton
February 7, 2013

we (4paz) have just got a bat wing vertical axis kite turbine working with alloy kites.the next stage is with soft kites . now we understand a little more of the best animal fight there is.. Which can be made multi layer just like a xmas tree. The pancake generator is at the base of the trunk support.(vertical axis). 3 kites at each stage ,like some trees. Bioneering is the best,copy mother nature, study how she does it ,then make with KISS (keep it simple stupid)technolgy

Anatoly Arov
February 7, 2013

Developments in wind turbines is a perpetual motion in income generation for producers. It also very good for Governments to report huge installed capacity. An other story real energy delivered. Best turbines have 15% kinetic energy utilization, and this is installed capacity based on 12 m/s wind speed. With real wind speed less than half, real energy delivered about 10 times lower. So industry should look for new solutions, as other responders mentioned. My invention offered 2.6 times higher energy utilization from swept area than 15%. Approached all players - none is interested, they did not have even curiosity to ask why. Myself do not have resources to commercialize.

Christopher Lee
February 7, 2013

@ken-upton-28183 -
I tend to agree in a way, but only in a way.

Things that work right now are based on exploiting sources with high energy densities: high winds, hydro with large gradients and so on. You could include the submerging turbines in places where tidal currents are particularly strong.

It's all very high technology and you are right, it's time to think about low technology solutions with larger capture cross sections. Strangely that seems to be a lot more difficult, and the engineers can't seem to get their heads round inexpensive projects of low thermodynamic and mechanical efficiencies, and that don't spoil the view.

The sorts of crazy ideas I'm thinking of that would fit yours would include capturing slow water currents by means of buckets connected to a long hawser that's looped round to capstan that drives the generator. You could decorate it with automated sailing boats, since racing yachts seem to be quite efficient. Since this is an American website, the Missisippi comes to mind; it packs lots of energy but wouldn't take kindly to damming.

ANONYMOUS
January 27, 2013

If capital costs for blades are around 25% of the total turbine cost (as claimed), and the "Blade Maker" project has a goal of reducing blade production costs by up to "10%", that would only result in a 2.5% turbine capital cost reduction. Frankly, this is not really all that impressive.

The notion that using superconducting direct-drive generators to reduce cost is also silly. A superconducting direct-drive generator would be hugely expensive, and would require a complex cryogenic cooling system that would be highly unreliable.

ken upton
January 25, 2013

hi Rush, I invented kite power turbines years ago,they got a fantastic write up in Eureka magazine.Kite energy nape rotors(kenapes)Now kite power is well proven ,kite surf ,kite ship etc Perhaps it will be developed,read Eureka 10/11/96 and my alternative ideas will make some success.I have given the IP and copyrights to a 4paz charity for the good of all.But tangential water kites in river and other streams, are far better and when developed will make the cheapest RE.Rivers never stop and the density is 800 times more than air .And that is what makes wet energy so good.Its pure dynamics,nothing more.

Frank Heller
January 25, 2013

With the shift in winds of Maine's WIND Initiative into ocean energy appliances, i.e. underwater current or riverine turbines for use in tidal flows; there is renewed interest by the composites industry which lead the charge into wind farming and now offshore floating platforms in manufacturing components for these new turbines.

One design is a Darius turbine and the other is an airfoil twisted into a helix like the Gorloff design.

Research is underway into extruding a composite turbine blade that could be cut into sections and 'fitted' into a revolving turbine. We already have several designs using carbon reinforced extruded PVC and yet another using an aluminum extrusion reinforced with carbon fibers.

This would provide an almost off-the-shelf component for marine fabricators to incorporate in a variety of water columns at a very low cost.

It is too early to write off large wind turbines as dinosaurs who will be extinct, and replaced by faster, more nimble energy extractors; but I see that day approaching very fast----especially when the turbine nears the end of it's duty cycle and needs replacement.

Frank Berry
January 25, 2013

Hello,

To commentor "just above"...it's for immediate need...Europe will then take the lead in patents, selling smaller more efficient prototypes that take over in sales numbers is good for anyone who can design then implement over time. Turbines are hard to install, too big, too heavy and require constant PM...usually by "young dudes" who know just enough.. "not to get killed" by the MW's produced.

Imagine climbing 250-350' multiple times a day to oil, check, tweak algorythms, etc. that needs to be done now...Now cut the overhead costs of PM's and checks-and-balances moving to a more autonomous and lighter state-of-affairs. It's a must. Decrease the "mass", decreases maintenance. That's all. (When an 18-wheeler has one of it's tire/wheel assemblies "out-of-balance"....this creates a large shimmy...this is the same with the reciprocating mass of turbines.)

Tidal will be coming..it's not "accepted enough yet".

Thanks-

ken upton
January 25, 2013

I cannot understand so much waste of money on wind power ,when UK has so many rivers and good tidal RE, this is where to invest. EC,Canada and so many other places have tidal and river RE also that could be used.UK technology could be exported as there are some good wet systems to develop.

Add Your Comments

To add your comments you must sign-in or create a free account.

REW.com Editors

Renewable Energy World's network editors help deliver the most comprehensive news coverage of the renewable energy industries. Based in the U.S. and the UK, the team is comprised of editors from Pennwell Corporation's myriad of publications...