According to a recent report, GE (who boasts a sizeable share of the wind turbine market) has introduced a cost effective method for retrofitting older, smaller wind turbines and make them more efficient.
Central to GE’s retrofit is the idea that wind turbines become more effective energy generators as their blades grow longer and their towers grow taller. As making older wind turbines taller isn’t qui te feasible, GE’s engineering team developed a new method for lengthening older turbines’ blades.
Though at first it might seem a simple matter to add an extension to the middle or end of a turbine blade, careful attention to a system’s delicate aerodynamics and weight ratio are critical to a retrofit’s success.
To achieve their efficiency goals, GE’s design team decided to cut their 37-meter (120ft) long blade in half and insert a 7-meter (23ft) long composite extension between the two sections. Thoroughly tested for aerodynamic efficiency and lifetime fatigue, the GE retrofit project has already generated 16 separate patent applications and a full 20% increase in efficiency.
Though wind energy is still too expensive and weak to be a major player in the global energy infrastructure, GE’s new retrofit is making the case that turbines can adapt to technological developments. If retrofits of this order can continue down the line wind energy can steadily move towards an even greater stake in the renewable energy sector.
Image and Video Courtesy of GE