Offshore wind boost with new ultralight turbine blade

Developed by Edinburgh-based ACT Blade, the new technology involves replacing the heavier glass fibre design traditionally used for wind turbine blades with a lighter composite structure, wrapped in a sail-like textile.

FASTBLADE composite structures test facility takes shape at Rosyth

Scotland's Lightweight Manufacturing Centre (LMC), together with the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) and the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, is supporting ACT Blade to develop the blade and bring it to market.

A lighter blade is claimed to allow for 10 per cent more length, which, in turn, generates up to nine per cent more energy from the same wind turbine. The technology could be a disruptor for the offshore wind industry, helping to make offshore wind more economical and easier to harness.

Prof. Iain Bomphray, Director of the Lightweight Manufacturing Centre, said: “This is the first of its kind in the world. ACT Blade has developed an entirely new type of blade made of composite materials and a textile shell that offers significant cost and sustainability benefits. Manufacturing costs are also 30 per cent lower than for conventional blades and they don’t require finishing and painting, which is a time consuming and polluting process. The blade is also partly recyclable.