LM Wind Power’s 73.5-meter blades became the first 70+ meter blades to be installed when Alstom inaugurated the largest offshore wind turbine in the world on March 19 at Carnet in the Loire-Atlantique region of France. The impressive composite structures have been developed specifically for Alstom’s Haliade 150-6MW wind turbine in a close collaboration between the two companies to boost energy capture while keeping loads down. The innovative blade design has already been through several rounds of testing before being installed on the turbine in France.
“It was great to see LM blades mounted on the newest and biggest turbine in the world as well as see the excitement this technological leap has made in the offshore world,” according to Ian Telford, LM Wind Power vice president of sales and marketing. “Our technology enables us to design and manufacture relatively lighter glass fiber and polyester blades for the length, but above all LM Wind Power has proven ability to handle the industrialization of these blades, which is not easy.”
Alstom’s Haliade 150-6MW turbine has been EDF-EN/Dong Energy’s choice developed in response to a call for tenders launched by the French government that aims to install 3GW of wind turbine power off French shores by 2015. Depending on the results of the tenders to be announced in April, Alstom and LM Wind Power plan to establish a blade manufacturing facility in Cherbourg with the capacity to produce up to 100 sets of 73.5 meter blades a year. Production is planned to start in 2016.
LM Wind Power is the world’s leading component supplier to the wind industry, with operations from 13 manufacturing facilities worldwide and more than 140,000 blades produced since 1978. More information is available at www.lmwindpower.com.
