Yacht-sail material tested for turbine blades

摘要

A subsidiary of a yacht-sail developer has adapted its parent company’s technology to create an ultra-lightweight oshore wind turbine blade. The design features an internal composite structure and hi-tech textiles, making it up to 24% lighter than a typical wind-turbine blade using fibreglass. ACT Blade, a subsidiary of UK yacht-sail developer SMAR Azure, used the light, durable structure of yacht sails to make oshore-turbine blades. This allows the blade length to increase by up to 10% compared to a fibreglass design. Increasing the rotor-swept area boosts annual energy production by 9% and cuts the levelised cost of energy by 6.7%, ACT Blade claimed.