LM Wind Power to develop the world’s longest wind turbine blades

LM Wind Power and Alstom have partnered to develop the longest wind turbine blade ever produced

The 73.5 metre blade with a rotor diameter of 150m/492 is designed to fit Alstom’s new 6 MW wind turbine for the growing European offshore wind market.

This blade requires more than 20,000 hours of work by LM Wind Power’s specialist teams which focus especially on aerodynamics, structural design and production processes. The blade uses advanced composite materials enabling LM Wind Power to design and manufacture relatively lighter glass fiber and polyester blades for the length.

The prototype blades will be produced in the company’s Danish factory in Lunderskov and will be ready for installation at Alstom prototype sites in Europe over the winter 2011/12. Future production depends on the end markets that Alstom wishes to address, most likely France, UK and other North Sea markets.

Roland Sundén, Chief Executive Officer, LM Wind Power Group said;

We are proud to partner with Alstom on this important project. I am sure that Alstom’s turbines flying the world’s longest wind turbine blades from LM Wind Power will set a new standard for cost of energy with an advantage over current offshore turbines. This new blade builds on the innovative features developed for our recent blade launch, the GloBlade which has proved to be tremendously successful, offering an additional annual energy production of 4-5 percent compared to standard blades