New Blaest test rig for 115m plus offshore blades
New Blaest test rig for 115m plus offshore blades | Windpower Monthly
A new test rig for +120m wind turbine blades has been inaugurated at the Blaest blade test centre in Aalborg, Denmark.
The rig is being used to test Siemens Gamesa’s 115m-long, B115 offshore blade for the SG 14-236 direct drive turbine, with the first blade already being tested on it.
With a weight of more than 1000 tonnes, the new test rig has advanced design features to secure optimised operational efficiency while performing tests and reduces critical handling and lifting operations.
“With this new test rig and all our other rigs, we are well prepared for the coming years of operation. We expect to see even longer blades within some years, and we are determined also to meet the testing needs for those blade sizes by further extending our capacity,” said Erik Steen Jensen, Blaest’s managing director.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: wind
Decades of government support for the development of wind energy has resulted in lower costs and a rapidly growing share of electricity generated by wind turbines. Wind in 2019 accounted for 7.3 percent of electrical generation, surpassing for the first time hydropower at 7.0 percent.