The composite blades were developed specifically for Alstom’s 6 MW Haliade 150 wind turbine in a close collaboration between the two companies to boost energy capture while keeping loads down. The blade design went through several rounds of testing before being installed on the turbine in France.
"Our technology enables us to design and manufacture relatively lighter glass fibre and polyester blades for the length, but above all, LM Wind Power has proven ability to handle the industrialisation of these blades, which is not easy,” notes LM Wind Power VP Sales & Marketing, Ian Telford.
The turbine's 25 m sub-structure (known as the jacket) was installed on pillars driven more than 30 m into the ground on which the 75 m high tower was then gradually mounted. The nacelle soars over 100 m above the ground. The wind turbine and its support structure have a total combined weight of 1500 tons.
Alstom's 6 MW Haliade 150 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 3 GW 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 m blades a year. Production is planned to start in 2016.
