ENGLISH
No-one can deny the high profile of wind power in today’s environmentally aware world. According to the European Wind Energy Association, wind power installations accounted for 39% of all new energy generation projects in 2009, the second year running that more wind power was installed than any alternative technology.
EU countries invested a massive €13bn in wind farms in 2009, taking the region’s total installed power capacity to 74,767MW. Germany has the largest capacity of 25,777MW, followed by Spain (19,149MW), Italy (4,850MW), France (4,492MW) and the UK (4,051MW).
Given the importance attached to wind power in the energy sector, it is not surprising that composite makers and blade manufacturers are looking to improve production techniques, either through the use of novel materials or manufacturing processes.
Manufacturing software specialist Dassault Systemes believes manufacturers could improve the durability of turbine blades by taking inspiration from the aerospace industry.
“The properties of composite blades can be tightly controlled and varied over their span through the appropriate selection of ply orientation, thickness and lay-up,” says the company. “Yet a survey conduction by Sandia National Laboratories of five wind energy plants…. found that an average of 80 blade replacements had been required per plant.”
Using technology typically found in the aerospace sector, Dassault Systemes has created a product lifecycle management (PLM) application, entitled Catia Composites Design, to replace the typically-used CAD systems.
Catia enables design of the composite lay-up in the context of the final blade assembly, streamlining the design process, reducing the risk of flaws and ensuring the durability of the final product, says Dassault.
Optimising the manufacturing process is accepted as being important by manufacturers. Bayer MaterialScience (BMS), for example, has created the Multitec polyurethane spray system, which it claims reduces the cost of making housings for wind turbines nacelles.
The traditional method of manufacturing the housings, which involves using hand lay-up to produce two half-shells, which are then assembled, is “time consuming and expensive”, says BMS. But the Multitec process involves spraying the multi-component system directly into the open mould without adding glass fibres. Total manufacturing time is therefore drastically reduced.
Other innovative technologies on the market include a rotating static mixer with rotation speed control from Tartler, the Araldite closed infusion process from Huntsman, and Nidaplast’s honeycomb composites for making nascelles.
Companies are also expanding to meet the needs of the fastest-growing emerging markets. Switzerland-based Gurit focused on China in 2009 and acquired China Techno Foam, enabling it to develop Red Maple, a turbine blade mould manufacturer.
Spain’s Gamesa – the third largest wind turbine manufacturer worldwide – is also looking towards China and last year announced plans to develop 253 MW of wind power projects in the province of Shandong, located in north-eastern China, between 2009 and 2011. All these projects will be equipped with Gamesa G5X-850 KW wind turbines manufactured at the company's production centres in Tianjin.
Not all investment is being made outside Europe, however, as General Electric is planning to build stronger relationships with suppliers across Europe and is investing €340m in wind turbine manufacturing capacity in Germany, Sweden, Norway and the UK.
“If all of the offshore wind projects currently in development are completed, they could provide 10% of the European Union’s total electricity while avoiding 200m tonnes of CO2 emissions each year,” says the company.
The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) warns that the outlook is not totally smooth for the wind industry, as there are some doubts over growth in the North American market and international commodity prices are still volatile. However, as wind power could save as much as 1.5bn tonnes of CO2 every year by 2020, according to the GWEC, innovation in the market looks like it’s here to stay.
From:http://www.europeanplasticsnews.com
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